


bloodlines

by heckalazy



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Possible Slow burn, hosierainkiss, i know this is a cliche plot pls don't hurt me, idk what a handon is
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heckalazy/pseuds/heckalazy
Summary: The supernatural community was horrified to find out that the great evil was expecting twins, destined to be the downfall of all mankind. When three boys stir trouble at the Salvatore boarding school for the Young and Gifted, Landon Kirby isn't the only person from Hope's past.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman/Original Character(s), Landon Kirby/Hope Mikaelson, Landon Kirby/Original Character, Milton "MG" Greasley/Lizzie Saltzman, Original Mikaelson Character(s) & Original Character(s), Penelope Park/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. bad blood

**Author's Note:**

> TW: blood, gore, and violence.  
> i will be putting a trigger warning before every chapter!

Hayley was so ecstatic when she found out she was having twins. Petrified, but still ecstatic. 

The werewolf didn't grow up with parents or someone to look up to. She wasn't going to do the same for her children. They were going to be raised in a household filled with love. Everyone at the house would do anything to protect the twins.

The situation could've been better. Maybe their father could've been a doctor or a nice werewolf and not an original homicidal hybrid. It's not every day someone gets pregnant from a one-night stand that you hate, but Hayley didn't live with any regrets.

There was a room reserved for the twins when they were born. Two cribs next to each other against the wall and a rocking chair in the corner next to the window.

Hayley currently sits in the rocking chair, writing another one of her letters for the twins. As her due date approaches, the werewolf racks her brain for more baby names.

"What about Alexander?"

The werewolf looks up from her paper and sees the female Mikaelson standing in the doorway.

"Alexander?" Hayley hums in thought. "A bit pretentious, don't you think?"

"Not pretentious, regal. There's a difference." Rebekah chuckles.

"What if we kept a tradition with the K names? We already have Klaus and Kol. What about Kenneth?"

Hayley repeats the name out loud, trying to visualize herself saying it ten years later.

"I like Alexander better."

* * *

The werewolf panics when she wakes up. She thrashes her body around while two Guerrera werewolves drag her into the church.

"Please, don't!" Hayley begs. The brunette's only worry is keeping the twins safe. The werewolf is too worried about the twins in her belly to focus on the growing pain.

"Get her down on the floor!" Genevieve commands.

Hayley remembers what happened. The stones, Genevieve, Francesca. Hayley promises herself she won't let them get away with this, taking advantage of her family.

"The babies are coming now, so we'll deliver now."

Hayley screams in pain, clenching her eyes shut. Having one child is already painful enough but with two tribrids, the werewolf feels like her body is being split apart. Hayley tries her best to bite her tongue, but the pain is too much to bear.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Hayley cries.

The werewolf never imagined she was going to have an easy birth, not when she's carrying Mikaelson blood. She did hope at least Klaus would be there.

"The ancestors require a sacrifice in exchange for power," Genevieve explains. "There are some complications with your pregnancy. You're experiencing a placental abruption. You have to be calm for us to help you, Hayley." 

"You are not taking my babies! I will kill all of you!" Hayley growls.

"No, you won't, and neither will Klaus or Elijah. When your babies are born, we will offer them for those who came before us."

"I'm sorry, Hayley, but this is the way it had to be." Genevieve frowns. For a second it sounds like there is sympathy in her voice, but all the werewolf can focus on is how to escape.

"No!" Hayley screams. Despite the growing pain in her abdomen, the werewolf doesn't stop screaming. She refuses to give up without a fight.

* * *

The werewolf lies on the table while the other witches try to restrain her. Hayley refuses to stop screaming for help, no matter how sore her throat gets. 

Genevieve tries stroking Hayley's hair to distract her but it doesn't work.

"Let go of me, you bitch!" The werewolf shouts.

Hayley gasps in relief when Klaus pulls the door open. A wave of relief washes over her body for only a short amount of time when the witches send him flying into the air, pressed against the wall.

A white blanket covers the lower half of Hayley's body, covering what is about to happen next. If possible, the werewolf screamed even louder as she started pushing. Hayley didn't want to push if it meant the witches were going to kill her child immediately. 

Klaus threatens the witches from the other side of the room, pure hatred in his voice.

"You're almost there, Hayley! One more push!" Genevieve encourages her.

The werewolf feels the baby being pushed out of her and weight feels lifted off of her chest. The werewolf worries when she doesn't hear the sound of crying.

"W-wait, what's wrong? Why aren't they crying?" Klaus watches from the wall, delighted at the sight of the baby boy.

Genevieve cradles the baby in her hands, anxiety written all over her face.

"There's no heartbeat, he's not breathing..."

"No, no, no! Please!" Hayley cries. Her heart shatters, wanting nothing more than to see her child.

The werewolf watches Sophie take her baby from Genevieve and shakes her head.

"I need to hold him! Where are you going?"

"You will die screaming!" Klaus screams in anger. Blood is smeared all over Klaus' mouth from his previous fight and Hayley can't imagine what he's going through right now.

"You can't give up now, Hayley, you have another one coming. Don't stop pushing!" Genevieve looks under the blanket.

Hayley pushes to the best of her ability for a while and the werewolf believes she's going to die on the table.

The sound of crying fills the room and Hayley sighs in relief. She tries to lift her head up to get even the smallest glimpse of her child.

Genevieve cradles the newborn in her arms. "You have a beautiful baby girl."

"We must start the sacrifice as soon as the moon sets in the morning sky."

"Please. Please, can I hold her?" Hayley asks her chest heaving up and down.

Genevieve walks around the table, passing her daughter into her arms. The baby is so fragile and innocent. Hayley fears she'll drop her.

Klaus stays quiet, admiring the child he created. Hayley adores the child in her arms, basking at the moment until a witch pulls her by the hair and slices her neck open with a knife.

* * *

Klaus, Hayley, and Elijah storm the French Quarter Cemetary with vengeance. The three witches all stand around the baby and Genevieve holds a knife above the child.

"No!" Hayley screams at the sight of her child in danger. Elijah throws a nearby urn at Genevieve and she stumbles back, the knife falling from her hands.

The three are quickly pushed back by the magic of all the ancestors in the French Quarter.

"You fools. To come against us in our place of power, in our strongest hour, you don't face three. You face us all." Sophie snarls.

Everyone scours for a way to pass the force of angry ancestors and Klaus breaks off a piece of a metal fence, piercing the rod through a witch.

Sophie swiftly grabs the knife Genevieve dropped and holds it above the baby. The witches inhibit the three from doing anything else, frozen in their spots.

A shuriken comes whizzing through the air out of nowhere, striking Sophie's abdomen. The harvest witch coughs up some blood before falling to the ground.

The three turn around to see Marcel who grabs the child in time, speeding back to the estate.

From behind closed doors, the witches still have the other twin. Despite being stillborn, the French Quarter witches join hands, trying to resurrect the child back to life.

* * *

"Klaus, I was supposed to die. You saw the witch slit my throat, but their blood saved me. Wouldn't the other twin wake up as well?"

"It is a possibility, yes. It's hard to tell with newborns." 

"We have everyone we know tracking him down right now," Elijah reassures the werewolf. "We'll find him, don't worry."

Hayley cradles her daughter in her arms, sniffling at the sight. The werewolf is just happy to see her safe and be able to hold her for more than a minute.

"I already lost one child, I can't lose this one too." Hayley frowns. "I made a promise to my babies and myself that they would not grow up like I did. They would grow up safe and loved. Yet here she is not even a day in this world and my daughter has a grandmother that is bent on sacrificing her, and a mother that has to drink the blood of her own baby to survive transitioning into a hybrid. And I'm the one that loves her the most." Hayley cries.

"I think the best thing to do is to send her away while we stay behind and clean up the mess we've made."

* * *

The werewolf frowns when she sees another blank expression on Elijah's face.

"Still nothing?"

Elijah shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We've probably searched all of Louisana. He is nowhere to be found." 

Hayley takes in a few deep breaths, her eyes watering already. Elijah steps closer to her before wrapping her arms around her and pulling the werewolf to his chest.

Hayley embraces Elijah, sniffling quietly. Salty tears roll down her cheeks, letting go of everything she was holding in.

"The worst part about all of this Elijah, I haven't had time to grieve. Nothing feels real. I lost a child." Hayley cries.

"I don't know what he looked like. I couldn't see if he had my eyes or Klaus' hair. I failed him."

"You did not fail him and it's not your fault. You love that child with every bone in your body. What you're doing right now is for him and Hope." Elijah reassures her. "I just wish he was here right now. I want to hold him in my arms. I want to tell him everything is going to be okay. I want to protect him from harm and love him endlessly."

* * *

The baby's chest rises as air begins to fill its lungs again. His face scrunches up and his face turns pink before crying. His little arms and legs twitching with his eyes clenched shut.

"He will suffice. The ancestors accept his sacrifice, but we'll have to keep him around. They have a feeling tribrid blood might be a necessity in the near future."


	2. vegas baby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is inspired by enna louise's edits on youtube!!  
> she makes these crossover edits of hope x jack from supernatural but i thought they looked a bit too related and this idea popped into my brain  
> alexander is played by alexander calvert <3

After escaping from the witches that have abused and tortured him his whole childhood, Alexander relishes in his newfound freedom. He gets as far away as he can from Louisiana and finds himself in Austin, Texas. 

The hybrid has no trouble finding a new home or somewhere to stay. He compels everything into the palm of his hand whether it was food, water, clothing, etc. Being sheltered his whole life, discovering new things every day was exciting.

Alexander enjoyed walking in nature. He learned from his mistakes as time moved on. His whole life, Alexander had been drinking from blood bags and small animals. The first human he ever fed on was magnificent. The metallic taste on his lips, he couldn't get enough.

Leaving the body out on the street like roadkill probably wasn't the best decision. Police tape covered the whole block for a few days.

Alexander loved painting and sketching. Back at New Orleans, he wasn't allowed to do many things. He couldn't have friends or watch TV. He couldn't leave the compound as was locked in a basement. He was only able to be in direct sunlight for an hour every day. His hobbies consisted of talking to himself, reading whatever the witches had in their library, and drawing. Every year on his birthday, he was allowed to ask for one thing that wasn't too bothersome. The hybrid didn't ask for anything but art supplies. It ranged from paints, watercolors, markers, pens, you name it.

Every weekend, Alexander will head out to a forest and shift. After being cooped up inside for so long, he likes to roam the woods around freely. The fresh air breezing against fluffy fur is not easily forgotten about.

One night, Alexander strips out of his clothing and shifts. His paws brush against the earthy dirt beneath him as he runs around the forest. His eyes glow yellow and search the forest, looking for nothing in particular. The moonlight shines above him and Alexander pants happily in his natural state. He ducks his head down next to a stream, his tongue lapping at the freshwater.

The werewolf lifts his head up when he hears other people. Humans. The werewolf isn't afraid. He sweeps his paws against the ground before rushing towards the beating hearts, surprising the two humans. Alexander growls, jumping on top of both of them.

The male raises a crossbow at him and before he can shoot, Alexander swipes the crossbow against a tree. The weapon clatters to the ground in several pieces.

Alexander bites the male's neck violently and the younger female screams in shock. 

"Please stop! Get off of him!" 

Alexander freezes, stopping his assault on the male who tried to shoot him. He stares at the auburn-haired girl who seems to be no older than seventeen with glowing yellow eyes.

The werewolf steps closer to the teenage girl in a threatening way before letting out a howl. He sniffs both of the humans before running off deeper into the woods.

The auburn-haired girl looks at the bearded male, slightly shaken up.

"Dr. Saltzman? You still with me?"

The man groans on the floor, a dark bloody gash on his neck. He winces in pain, looking up at Hope and slowly nods his head.

"Unfortunately. Please remind me why I decided to run a school for supernatural children."

"So innocent people aren't hurt from attacks like these." Hope bites her wrist and raises it to the Headmaster's lips.

"Then again, you did point a crossbow at him." Hope shrugs her shoulders.

"I could still give you detention."

* * *

The second time Hope and Alaric try to capture Alexander, they plan to storm his place of residence and ambush him.

"You remember the plan, right?" Alaric asks Hope for the millionth time. Normally, recruit missions have a 100% success rate, until they ran into the hybrid they're trying to catch now.

"Yes, we went over it thirty seconds ago." Hope rolls her eyes, stepping out of the van.

"I'm just making sure you didn't forget." Alaric raises his hands in defense. "We can't let him get away again."

The headmaster steps out of his van with another crossbow and Hope walks up the stairs of the apartment complex.

Tenants gaze at the two weirdly and Alaric smiles innocently at them.

"Nothing to see here, we're just...cosplaying."

Hope stops in front of door number 503 and shares a look with Alaric. They knock on the door gently but get no response.

The tribrid checks for anyone else out in the hallways before casting a spell.

" _Dissera portus_ ," The apartment door swings wide open. Alaric steps in first with his crossbow raised in defense. 

"He's not here," Hope sighs, running stressed fingers through her hair. The tribrid was tired. Another failed attempt in catching the hybrid. She plops down on the comfortable couch, sinking into the luxurious fabric.

Alaric gives the tribrid a playful glare and Hope raises an eyebrow at the headmaster.

"What? He has good taste." Hope chuckles.

"What do we do now?" The tribrid stays quiet, taking a piece of candy from the candy bowl sitting in the middle of the coffee table.

Alaric stares at Hope expectantly and Hope tosses the candy wrapper into the trash can.

"Why are you looking at me? You're the headmaster!"

"I mean we could go back to school. Track his every footstep again." Alaric sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "You could do a silencing spell. He won't be able to hear our footsteps or beating hearts." 

"Sounds good to me." The two leave the apartment building and drive away in the school van. Alexander watches them from down the street, scoffing under his breath. A cigarette dangles from his lips. He pushes himself off the lamppost and inhales one last puff from the cancer stick before dropping it to the ground. He crushes the cigarette with his boot before swooshing away into the distance.

* * *

Third time's the charm. Alexander relocated again, this time in Nevada. The hybrid took advantage of Las Vegas and the thriving nightlife. He spent most of his nights in casinos. He didn't just compel people to hand him money, that would've been boring. He does win his earnings. Alexander only compels the money to place his bets.

Hope and Alaric hunt him all the way down in Vegas. Alexander cheers when he wins again, scooping in all the chips. He wears a green visor with a cheesy tourist t-shirt and khaki shorts. The two wait for the hybrid to leave the poker table to approach him.

Alexander gets up from the poker table, scooting his chair back.

"I gotta go take a potty break now. Don't do any peeking fellas." Alexander smirks heading to the nearest bathroom. Too many drinks can do that to your bladder.

Alexander feels himself bumping into something despite nothing in his general vicinity. He furrows his eyebrows in confusion before hearing a familiar voice.

" _Ad somnum_ ," The hybrid feels his knees go weak, passing out on the floor. Hope smirk's proudly and casts an invisibility spell before anyone can notice him on the floor.

Hope helps Alaric carry him into the van and brace themselves for a very long car ride back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! <3  
> let me know if you have any questions


	3. what happens in vegas, stays in vegas

Alexander groans awake, his back hurting from the lack of cushion. He sits up and finds himself surrounded by concrete and metal bars. The place is dimly lit with fluorescent lighting. There's a faint hum in the ceiling from the poor electrical wiring. 

The hybrid made a note to himself to never go back to Las Vegas. Alexander rubs the back of his neck, getting up on his feet. He hears shuffling next to him paired with another heartbeat.

"Hello? Who's there?" Alexander calls out.

"Hey! Good morning, sunshine." A voice chuckles.

"Uhhh, who are you?"

"My name's Landon. I watched them drag you into here, you were knocked out like a light." Landon chuckles.

Alexander rolls his eyes, looking at all of the chains on the wall. Some were rusty, some were slightly new. There is dried red stains on the ground, most likely blood.

"Where the hell am I? Based on the chains on the wall, I'm too pretty to be in sex dungeon." Alexander frowns.

"We're apparently in some werewolf transitioning cells under the school. They don't know what to do with us so they throw us in here." Landon explains.

A small sigh leaves Alexander's lips. He looks for some sort of exit but his vision his blocked by other cells.

"I'm just glad I'm not alone anymore." Landon chuckles nervously. "I don't really do well in small spaces."

Alexander can hear Landon's heartbeat increase next to him. The boy is obviously anxious. The hybrid isn't used to being around people, only watching them from afar. He clears his throat, scrunching his nose up.

"You're going to be alright, Landon. They don't want to kill you. If they wanted to, they would've done it by now." Alexander sits in the corner of the cell with his arms folded across his chest.

"Where are you from, Landon with no last name?"

"I don't really know where I came from. I bounced around from foster homes a lot. The last place I came from was Georgia."

"That's so sad." Alexander rolls his eyes, his voice dripping with sarcasm. People who tell their whole life story to strangers are annoying. He crosses off a mental checklist in his head for Landon. "You go around telling everyone that?"

"Only the people who ask."

"My fault for asking." Alexander sighs, bringing his knees up to his chest.

"Can I get your name?" 

"Sure. It's none-of-your-beeswax." Alexander chuckles at his own joke. "Oh god, I'm gonna go crazy in here."

* * *

Alexander lifts his head up from his knees when he hears footsteps approaching him. He groans, seeing the auburn-haired girl standing in front of his cell.

"You gonna put me to sleep again?" Alexander smiles sarcastically. "You don't have to use any magic, I like lullabies too."

"We're not a hotel. We can't put you in a dorm because you're not a student here." The girl frowns. "And I'm not going to put you to sleep again. You're in here because you've proven yourself to be a danger to others." Alexander feels like he's being scolded by a parent.

"Tell that to your ugly ass father who tried to shoot me with a crossbow! Some people want to be Daryl Dixon so bad." 

"That wasn't my father." She laughs. "I can understand the confusion, but no. You'll probably be in here for the rest of the night until the headmaster decides his next plan of action."

"Some headmaster you got."

"He's trying his best." The girl smiles at him. "For now, I suggest you get comfortable. My name is Hope."

Hope turns toward Landon's cell and starts talking to him. Alexander has nothing else to do but eavesdrop.

"Can't sleep either?" Hope sits down in front of Landon's cell, making herself comfortable. She wraps the purple cardigan tighter around her waist.

"Yeah, small spaces. You?"

"Sometimes I get restless."

"Busy brain?"

"Busy everything. My body has a lot going on inside of it." Hope chuckles.

"Sounds gross!" Alexander butts in from the cell next to them. Landon laughs while Hope snickers, looking down at her lap.

"Which is an awesome segue into you telling me how you can move things with your mind."

"You ask a lot of questions."

"Wouldn't you?"

Alexander bangs his head lightly against the concrete wall behind him, closing his eyes.

"If there is any God out there, please get me out of here!" Alexander whines.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because I have a comedian as my next-door neighbor and I'm wondering why you're holding him hostage."

"You'll find that out all on your own."

"On a serious note, I was remembering the way we danced in the town square. This guy who used to mess with me in school finally got what was coming to him. I had a good day."

The two stay quiet for a moment, reminiscing in their past before Hope excuses herself to leave abruptly.

"You know, you do that a lot."

"Do what?"

"Leave." Alexander inaudibly winces, enjoying the scene happening next to him. He wishes he had some popcorn, or a human blood bag.

"I can be dangerous to people. It's better if I keep my distance."

"Better for who?"

"Again with the questions."

Hope walks away and her footsteps get quieter and quieter until they're gone. Alexander laughs, clapping his hands together obnoxiously.

"That was so much better than the shit they play on television." Alexander grins widely. "Man, you're going to die in here alone."

The sound of a cell unlocking can be heard. Alexander furrows his eyebrows together in confusion.

"Landon? How did you unlock the cell?" The hybrid wonders if Hope came back to unlock Landon's cell, but Alexander would've heard her footsteps. There's silence before he hears Landon fall to the ground and scream.

The hybrid calls out to his cellmate but there's no answer. Alexander tries to break the metal bars of the cell but there seems to be a magic barrier. Even though he breaks the metal, a force field stops him from stepping out of the cell. The hybrid curses under his breath, making himself comfortable. He curls up on the floor and closes his eyes. He misses the smell of his Dior cologne, fiddling with the silver rings on his fingers. Alexander dreams about going to the mall and having a shopping spree, just like the good ol' days.


	4. fresh meat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the way i pump out these chapters is kind of concerning-  
> i'll be trying to make the chapters longer!

The following morning, Alexander wakes up to the sound of his cell being unlocked. The hybrid whips his head up, wiping the trail of drool from the corner of his mouth.

He finds Hope standing there in her neatly pressed uniform. Alexander sighs, not even wanting to know what he looked like at the moment.

"Dr. Saltzman is ready for you now." Hope steps aside so the hybrid can exit out of the cell.

Several bones in Alexander's body cracks as he gets up from not moving for a while. He smacks his lips together, rubbing his stomach.

"Do you know where I can get a drink from around here?" Alexander frowns.

"I'll see if I can get a blood bag for you. Do you have a preference?"

"A positive would be delightful." Alexander follows behind Hope, students stopping in their tracks to stare at the blue-eyed stranger.

"Have they never seen a hybrid before?" Alexander scoffs at the reactions he gets.

"Hmm. In our world, hybrids aren't the best of creatures." Hope chuckles sadly. She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, opening the door to the headmaster's office.

"Close the door please." Alaric fixes his blazer. Alexander sits down in one of the chairs in front of him, folding his hands in his lap.

"Are you going to tell me why I'm here now?"

"We just have a few questions for you."

Hope places a blood bag in front of Alexander. The hybrid reaches his hand to grab it but Alaric beats him to it.

"If you want blood, you have to answer all of our questions."

Alexander grumbles, leaning back in his chair. He folds his arms across his chest, shrugging his shoulders.

"Then carry on. I'm thirsty."

Alaric pulls out a white orb from his desk drawer and places it on his desk.

"This is a truth-seeking orb. It turns green when you're telling the truth and glows red when you're lying. Sound simple enough?"

Alexander nods his head, not taking his eyes off of the blood bag.

"What is your full name?" Alaric asks him.

"Alexander. I don't know my last name." The orb glows green.

"Do you know where you were born?"

"No." The orb stays green.

"What are your intentions?"

"To kill each and every person in this school!" Alexander jokes, laughing maniacally.

The orb turns red and everyone in the office stays silent. Alexander coughs, not appreciating the serious tension in the room.

"I see there's not a lot of funny people at this school."

"How did you become a hybrid?"

"I was born a vampire. I ended up killing some people and transitioned into a werewolf. Boom, hybrid." The orb turns green again.

"That's impossible, vampires aren't able to have children."

"I think my existence says otherwise, pal. I'm kind of offended by that." Alexander pouts, holding a hand to his chest dramatically.

Alaric throws his hands up in the air, his lips curled into an evident frown.

"We're obviously going nowhere here."

"Great! Can I go now?"

"Actually, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Alexander groans, throwing his head back. "Dude, just let me go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Alexander. Here at the Salvatore school, we protect young supernatural beings. We shape them so that when they graduate, they are prepared to face the human world and coexist peacefully with them, without causing any problems. We've been watching over you for a long time, Alexander. You belong here."

"Kind of creepy, but I'm flattered nonetheless. The answer is still going to be a no." Alexander reaches for the blood bag again but Alaric holds it in his lap.

"The Salvatore School can provide you with a home. You won't have to worry about compelling to survive. You have everything you need right here." Hope smiles gently.

Alexander takes a second to think about it, biting down on his bottom lip. "I need you to promise me something."

"Of course, anything." Dr. Saltzman nods his head.

"In writing."

Alaric nods his head again, wondering what the young hybrid could take so seriously.

"You will not take advantage of me or my blood. I will give away my blood because it's my choice. If I don't want to give away my blood, tough noogies."

"I will have a contract made and signed by tomorrow."

"I mean...I guess since you guys are so eager to have me, I'll stay." Alexander smirks, leaning back in his chair.

"Welcome to the Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted, Alexander. Hope will be showing you to your room and helping you get settled in."

"Hope, he will be rooming with Jed." Hope's face twitches for a second and Alexander raises an eyebrow.

"Umm, is there any way I'll be able to get my own room?" Alexander grabs the blood bag from Alaric, bringing the plastic straw to his lips. More color flushes to Alexander's face and the hybrid moans happily. He clears his throat, wiping the red liquid from his lips. "I don't really do well with people."

"It's a good thing you're at school. You'll learn. Hope, escort him out please."

* * *

The two walk in a comfortable silence. Alexander continues sipping from the blood bag until it's empty and flat.

"Who's this Jed guy that makes you look like you want to slam your tongue into a car door whenever you hear his name? Is it an ex?"

"Not an ex. Jed is the alpha of the werewolves in this school. They're really traditional and cliquey. What Jed says, goes. He's some arrogant idiot. I'd try to avoid him as much as you can." Hope smiles sadly.

The two stop in front of what seems to be his dorm room. The hybrid lets out a sigh of relief when he doesn't see anyone else in the room. Hope places his uniforms on the bed and clears her throat.

"You should get dressed now. There is going to be an emergency assembly later in the auditorium, you shouldn't be late."

Alexander nods his head and Hope leaves his room. The hybrid sighs, looking around his room. There are posters of women in bikini-clad bodies on the other side of the room and some NFL players.

Alexander's eyes widen from his reflection in the mirror. Dark circles take place underneath his eyes and his hair is sticking up in all kinds of directions. Out of embarrassment for himself, Alexander grabs his things and heads to the communal showers. Alexander enjoys the long-needed shower and lets the warm water relax his muscles. When he steps out of the shower, steam rises from his skin and some of the mirrors near him fog up. He slips a towel around his waist and returns to his bedroom. A tall figure stands on the other side of the room. Alexander can only assume this is the Jed hope warned him about.

"Uh, hey man." Alexander greets the werewolf sitting on the other bed. The hybrid isn't scared of changing in front of people and tosses his robe onto his bed. He puts on the uniform, scrunching his face up.

"Sup," Jed replies without looking up from the book in his hands.

"My name's Alexander." The hybrid rolls his sleeves back so they aren't bunching up around his wrists. Alexander decides against buttoning his shirt up all the way, exposing some of his necklaces.

After receiving no answer, Alexander checks the time on the clock hanging in their dorm room and sees what book he's so invested in. 

_Diary of a Wimpy Kid?_ Alexander scoffs, shaking his head. Either he really likes Greg Heffley or his roommate doesn't give a crap. Alexander doesn't expect a red carpet rolled out for him or anything, but based on the looks he keeps getting in the hallways, Alexander thought he deserved much more than just a 'sup'. He leaves the dorm room, walking towards the auditorium.

* * *

Many students fill the auditorium, occupying seats. The hybrid isn't afraid, he doesn't really care as long as nobody gets on his nerves. He takes his seat next to a peppy blonde and a more quiet brunette. He folds his arms across his chest nonchalantly.

The hybrid hears whispers all around him and Alexander decides to turn off his heightened hearing for the rest of the day.

"Excuse me! Are you new?" The blonde next to him giggles.

"Lizzie!" The brunette scolds.

"What? I'm just curious." Lizzie giggled, twirling a piece of hair around her finger.

"I am new, thanks for noticing." Alexander chuckles at the blonde.

Lizzie holds her hand out, smiling at the hybrid.

"I'm Lizzie. This is my twin sister, Josie. Fraternal, obvi."

Alexander shakes both Lizzie and Josie's hands, returning the smiles. "Pleasure to meet you, Lizzie and Josie, fraternal twins."

"Are the rumors true?" Lizzie asks.

"What rumors?"

Josie holds her face in her hands, tired of her twin sister's nosiness.

"I apologize for my sister. She has no filter." 

"That you're a hybrid." 

Alexander gasps dramatically, holding a hand to his chest. "A hybrid?! Not me! Those are so rare! I'm actually a warlock."

" _Post tenebras spero lucem,"_ Alexander mutters. The twins wait for a ball of light to appear in Alexander's hand, but nothing happens.

"I'm just kidding. Yes, I am a hybrid." Alexander chuckles. "But thank you for letting me entertain you."

"How did you know that spell?" Josie asks in peaked interest. If you asked a vampire what _incendia_ meant, they would've just given you a dumbfounded look.

"I've hung out with a lot of witches. I picked up a thing or two." Alexander answers.

The three turn their heads towards the front when the headmaster begins speaking.

"For years we've gone undetected. Protecting you, protecting our secret has been our singular mission. Tonight I need your help to find Landon Kirby before he exposes us all."

 _Kirby?_ That's his last name? The pink little alien that sucks in everything like a bottomless bag?

The students are dismissed and Alexander is about to leave when he feels someone holding him back. Lizzie interlocks their arms together with a wide grin on her face.

"Have you gotten a tour of the school? I would love to give you one!" 

"I mean Hope kind of showed me around, but I wouldn't mind another one."

"Perfect! I can introduce you to everyone." The blonde is thrilled from Alexander's answer, pleased to share everything she knew about the school. As they walk around, Lizzie points to anyone they pass by, giving Alexander their whole backstory and reputation.

"You shouldn't hang out with Hope. She prefers to keep to herself. I've tried being her friend for years and all she does is be a total bitch to me." Lizzie frowns.

"Dad keeps telling me to try, but it's hard. She's already been through so much." The blonde rambles. The two of them stroll around the school while the sky turns dark.

"This is the Old Mill. A lot of students will come here to fraternize. If you know what I mean..." Lizzie giggles.

"Yep, I know what you mean." Alexander couldn't tell if the blonde was hitting on him, but the hybrid was still wary about the school. He couldn't exactly escape in the middle of the night if he had attachments to the school.

"The brunette with wavy hair and split ends? That's Penelope Park. Satan in a crop top. She'll make your life a living hell." Lizzie rolls her eyes. "Also Josie's evil ex. Steer clear from her direction or you'll be met with hellfire." Alexander found the brunette to be attractive. People around her hung on the witch's every word. Students even avoiding looking at her gaze out of fear and intimidation. The hybrid wished he could have that kind of power.

"The dude with the fro who's too happy to function? That's MG. He's a nerd but he means well. He's also hopelessly in love with me. I can't blame him though, I'm wonderful." Lizzie sighs.

"So who's your roommate?" Lizzie asks out of curiosity.

"Uh, I believe his name is Jed. He doesn't do a lot of talking."

"Yikes, you lucked out on that one. The werewolves are like that I guess. They usually stick with the other werewolves. They don't really like inter-species mingling. It's a shame though. Some of them are just drop-dead gorgeous. Speaking of drop-dead gorgeous, you're not the only new kid we got today. There's a new werewolf named Rafael and he's the literal embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome." Lizzie sighs dreamily, getting lost in her own thoughts.

"I totally embarrassed myself in front of him yesterday. I don't think he wants anything to do with me." 

"Well, from what I know, you aren't that annoying. Just keep talking to him. Don't force anything. If you guys are meant to be, it'll happen. If not, you move on. The world keeps spinning." 

"That's a kind of pathetic standpoint." Lizzie deadpans. "But I think you tried giving me advice so I'll take it. Thank you, Alexander."

"You can call me Alex." The hybrid chuckles.

"Okay, Alex." Lizzie smiles. The name sounds nice on her tongue. She hopes she can become friends with the hybrid in the future.

"Ooh, there's Rafael! I'll catch you later, Alex!"

The hybrid salutes her goodbye and the hybrid stands with his hands in his pockets. He walks back to his room to get settled in and catches Josie casting a spell. Alexander looks in the same direction as Josie. Penelope Park's sleeve is on fire and her group of friends try to assist her. His eyes widen and quickly walks away, whistling innocently. Alexander makes a mental note for himself to never get on the brunette twin's bad side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jed reading diary of a wimpy kid is just something so personal to me  
> thanks for reading! <3


	5. go stallions!

When Alexander wakes up the next morning, he doesn't feel too well. He puffs his chest out and runs to the bathroom, throwing up everything in his stomach. The hybrid's face twists in disgust, looking at the black goo in the toilet bowl. 

"What the fuck is that?" Alexander studies the mysterious substance but flushes the toilet before he can throw up again in repugnance.

He brushes his teeth and makes his way back to his dorm room. Jed snores away in his bed and Alexander gets dressed for the day. Students are much more lively and enthusiastic. Alexander discovers the school is having a game. Everyone wears blue and yellow colors in support of the school. He catches the eye of Lizzie and Josie walking in the hallway. Lizzie waves at him, motioning for him to walk over.

"Good morning, Alexander! Did you have a good sleep?" Josie smiles radiantly. The hybrid notices the brunette witch has a unique smile. When Josie smiles, the room just brightens up. Being upset around Josie sounded impossible.

"I did, thank you for asking me, Josie." Alexander steals a red apple from a student walking by and hands it over to Josie. "Have you guys eaten breakfast?" 

"I can't eat right now." Josie sighs, handing the apple to Lizzie who happily takes a bite out of it.

"Every year, we have this tournament with Mystic Falls High School. It's a total waste of time but it helps us keep our cover as a supernatural school. We don't want to draw too much attention."

"Isn't a tournament a lot of attention?" Alexander furrows his eyebrows.

"Apparently not. Not competing would result in more suspicion." Josie shrugs her shoulders. "We just have to roll with the punches."

Dr. Saltzman stands in front of them with a weary look on his face. Alexander is surprised to see him in more casual attire of a grey wool sweater and jeans with a bag hanging off of his shoulder.

"Hey, girls, listen-"

"Don't do it." Josie interrupts him. "Don't say whatever it is you're about to say because you have Dad face, and wherever Dad face goes, daughter disappointment always follows." 

"Dad?" Alexander's blue eyes dart in between the two.

Dr. Saltzman sighs, nodding his head. "I see you've met my daughters, Alexander." 

"Don't change the subject." Josie snaps, apparently it was a common occurrence with the Saltzmans.

"I'm sorry I can't make it to the game today." Alaric frowns.

"But Dad, you're the coach." Josie frowns. 

"And I'm QB1 this year!" Lizzie butts in.

"I hate it as much as you do, but I have to find Landon Kirby." Alexander snorts under his breath. For a school full of witches, they don't really use their magic. How can you let someone steal an ancient artifact and get away with it?

"Okay, so, let's cancel. I mean it's a joke anyway. We can't use our powers so we suck." Josie gives her signature pouty face but Dr. Saltzman doesn't budge.

"Exactly. Which is a normal school for troubled rich kids thing to do. This annual event lets the locals see you for what they think you are and keeps them from asking too many questions."

"But they mock us."

"Because they're insecure, small-town kids with small minds." Alaric justifies. "With Landon Kirby out and about, we have to protect this school more than ever. Can I count on you guys to do that?"

Both Josie and Lizzie nod their heads at their father. "All right, I love you both. We'll be back as soon as we can." Alexander wonders how Dr. Saltzman prioritizes his daughters' feelings but he shakes it off. It's not his place to judge or make assumptions.

The three of them watch Alaric leave and Lizzie furrows her eyebrows together in realization. 

"Wait. Who's "we"?"

Alexander and Josie spend the next hour listening to Lizzie rant about Hope Mikaelson. The hybrid contemplates how Josie can be around her for so long. He admires her patience. If the hybrid was able to do magic, he would've done a sleep spell a long time ago.

* * *

Alexander stands in the crowd with the other students, all decked out in blue and yellow. There's a messed up stallion on his face. Lizzie tried to surprise Alexander and the pay off was not well when the hybrid almost sends her to the other side of the room. Alexander studies the humans, his eyes squinting from the bright sunlight. It's ironic how humans look so confident. It looks like they're doing charity work.

It's hard to watch people lose on purpose, especially when the other high school is giving them such a hard time. Alexander munches on some popcorn and almost chokes when he sees them starting to earn points.

 _They're obviously cheating._ Alexander leans back and relaxes. Josie looks frustrated as nobody listens to her. Alexander gives the brunette a small thumbs up as encouragement.

The game is almost coming to an end and Alexander bursts out laughing when Kaleb fumbles the last catch, the football falling to the ground. The other students around him start glaring and Alexander covers his mouth to stop himself.

The game ends and the stallions lose once again. The team members all give each other high fives and the mean blonde says something to Josie causing Lizzie to punch her in the face. Alexander doesn't blame her, the girl had it coming the whole game. The hybrid is glad Lizzie gave her what she deserved. A fight starts between the two schools and all the students gather to the field, throwing hands at each other. Alexander stays in his seat and watches the chaos ensue, continuing to eat his popcorn.

"Man, I love high school."

From what Alexander could tell, the Salvatore school didn't seem as great of a school as other people made it out to be. Maybe it was because he arrived at a really busy time, but the hybrid felt like he could sneak away in the middle of the night and nobody would notice, too deep in their own problems. But a part of Alexander wanted to stay. Always having to relocate before people could raise suspicion was tiring for the hybrid whether he admitted it or not. He found a place to call home.

* * *

After the game, the hybrid changes into his pajamas. Before he goes back to his dorm room, he stops by the twins' dorm room, knocking on the door gently. Both Lizzie and Josie stop what they're doing to face Alexander. 

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt a twin moment?" Alexander chuckles nervously.

"You're fine, Alex. What can we help you with?" Josie smiles, pressing the bag of frozen peas against Lizzie's eye.

"I saw the fight. Well, everyone kind of did. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay." 

"It's very sweet you checked up on us. We're gonna be okay." Lizzie pats Alexander's knee.

"Has your dad said anything?"

"He hasn't come back yet. If you don't hear from us for a while, you'll know why." Josie sighs, examining Lizzie's bruise.

"He'll understand. Either way, he can't be mad at you. If he wants to be mad, tell him he should do a better job of protecting the school." 

"Hey! Don't be so hard on him. He tries." Josie pouts. Alexander doesn't blame her. She shares the same last name of him so she has to take his side.

"Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot lately." Alexander clicks his tongue. "But I'm glad you guys are okay. I'll get out of your hair now before your Dad finds me and hangs me on top of the flagpole or something." The twins say goodnight to Alexander and hybrid waves goodbye to the twins before heading back to his own room.

Alexander doesn't even look at the other occupied side of the dorm room and crawls into his bed, sighing happily. He snuggles into the comforter and closes his eyes, falling asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3  
> sorry it's a filler chapter :(


	6. gardens and gargoyles

Alexander realizes every single student he could possibly talk to is serving detention from the fight during the football game or out doing their own thing. Alexander spends half of the day catching up on homework in the library. He does a bit of extra reading on hybrid studies, learning more about the Mikaelson bloodline. No wonder the tribrid was such a big deal at the school. Half of the library has her name mentioned in it somewhere.

The hybrid runs out of things to do when he completes all of his homework and speed reads everything in the library. He helps primary school students out in the garden. Alexander carries bags of soils for the students and the children plant seeds into the soil and water the plants. The hybrid raises his eyebrows when he sees Lizzie walking towards them.

"Back so soon? Detention must've been fun." Alexander cracks a joke.

He gets no response from the blonde who lays her back on a large rock, shielding her eyes from the sun with her arms folded on her face. 

"Aren't you supposed to help?" Pedro approaches the blonde.

"Yeah, Lizzie, aren't you supposed to help?" Alexander pokes at the blonde.

"Consider this a life lesson, Pedro." Lizzie sits up on the rock, facing the smaller child. "People disappoint."

"That statue just moved." Pedro declares, his brown eyes looking at the gargoyle near them.

Lizzie turns around with a straight face, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

"Good one, Pedro. I mean I deserve to know what's happening just as much as Hope. I'm his freaking daughter." Lizzie rants.

Alexander keeps his eyes fixating on the gargoyle, almost jumping when he catches it moving. For a second, the hybrid didn't want to believe the younger child. 

"It's doing it again!" Pedro points at the gargoyle.

"Lizzie, Pedro is being serious. I think we should evacuate." Alexander grabs her shoulder gently.

Lizzie turns around to see the gargoyle in the same position, rolling her eyes.

"Alex, I didn't laugh the first time. Just give it up." 

The gargoyle moves from its position behind Pedro and Alexander forces Lizzie to make eye contact with the gargoyle. The stone creature's eyes glow bright red and bare it's sharp, pointy teeth at them. A screeching sound emits from their mouth and Alexander scoops both Pedro and Lizzie up in his arms before running to a safe area. 

"I need you to give me your hands!" Lizzie shouts.

The blonde grabs both of their hands and Lizzie closes her eyes. A faint red glow surrounds their hands and the gargoyle's footsteps grow closer to the trio.

"Alex, please get help and find my Dad."

"Lizzie, I can't leave you here alone." Alexander shakes his head in disapproval.

"I wasn't asking you, Alex! I can handle myself. Go now!"

The hybrid grunts under his breath. Alexander knows he can't waste any more time bickering with Lizzie. He picks up Pedro and takes him far away from the gargoyle to a safe area. Alexander zooms all over the school afterwards in search of the headmaster.

"Dr. Saltzman! There's a gargoyle loose in the school. We have to help Lizzie."

* * *

The two of them find Lizzie on the ground and take her to a safer area where the gargoyle isn't found. The blonde whimpers quietly, her eyes are responsive but the rest of her body is paralyzed.

"Lizzie? Can you hear me?" Alaric asks his daughter, but he gets no response from his daughter.

"What happened? Why can't she say anything?"

"The statue hurt her," Pedro explains. Alexander feels guilty for the little guy. Someone so young should never have to see such a thing.

There are three dark grey slashes on Lizzie's stomach. The surrounding area almost looks like it's turning into stone. Alaric leaves to consult with Dorian and Alexander grabs Lizzie's hand.

"You're gonna be okay. Your dad's looking for a solution right now." Alexander smiles at the siphoner. 

Alaric enters the room again, sliding his phone into his pocket. "This school is on lockdown right now. Nothing is to enter or leave the campus, period. Upper class, stick with the buddy system. Lower class, you go with Emma." 

"Dr. Saltzman, is it okay if I stick with Lizzie?"

"Sure, Alexander. Don't take your eyes off of her, okay?"

"I make no promises, sir." Alexander jokes, but nobody laughs. "Too soon? Alright, sheesh, I got it."

Alexander lays down next to the siphoner, wrapping his arms around her. "Do you mind if I'm the little spoon? No? Cool." The hybrid lays his head on his shoulder, snickering quietly.

"Alexander! Stop playing around. We are in a crisis right now." Emma scolds him.

Alexander rolls his eyes, poking Lizzie's cheek. "Wow, first getting into a fight with the rival school and now this? Lizzie Saltzman, you are a badass. What can't you do?"

"Emma?" Alaric calls out. The counselor slides open the door and sees the headmaster. She raises a single finger to her lips to signal the three of them to be quiet.

Alexander's ears perk up when he hears the gargoyle growling again. He steps out of the room to see the gargoyle standing at the top of the staircase, peering down at all of them.

Before the gargoyle can attack them, Alaric stands in front of the two girls, and the gargoyle freezes in its steps.

Taking advantage of the hesitation, Hope joins hands with Josie before chanting a spell at the gargoyle until it bursts into a bunch of tiny pieces.

"Nicely done." Hope hums in satisfaction.

"How could you jump in front of us like that?" Josie shouts, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You could've died, Dad."

"Honey, I knew it wouldn't kill me because my research said so." Alaric defends himself.

Josie storms off upset and Alexander works on cleaning up the mess the gargoyle left behind.

* * *

After the hybrid finishes cleaning himself up, he stands next to Hope in the archway. Either the tribrid doesn't notice his presence or is too tired from her previous activity to acknowledge him.

"In case nobody told you today, thank you." Alexander smiles with his hands folded behind his back.

"I think people take you for granted, but you're a person too. Not just some bodyguard."

"Thank you, Alexander." Both of them walk down the hallway and Alexander furrows his eyebrows when he bumps into Hope's shoulder. He looks up to see Hope staring at a curly-haired boy just a few feet away from them.

Alexander processes all of the information and gasps. "Is that the Landon Kirby?" The hybrid has never seen him before but Alexander has listened to how the two interact before.

Hope stays frozen in her spot, unable to tear her eyes away from the previous thief. 

"I have no idea what you see in him, he looks like a middle school Hollister catalog." Alexander doesn't even know where the snarky remark comes from. Maybe he absorbed some of Lizzie's personality while trying to comfort her as she turns into a rock.

Hope doesn't say anything but she is the first of the two to turn away and head to her own room. Alexander glances at Landon for the first time and the two lock eyes. Landon's eyes are almost the same as Alexander's blue, except his are more of a sky grey color. Alexander squints his eyes at the mysterious student before turning around on the heels of his feet to walk back to his room, still feeling Landon's eyes watching the back of his head.

_Just another day at the Salvatore school._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3


	7. mean girls

Alexander pushes himself out of bed, waking up to another assembly. It's the same routine as always. The hybrid wonders how one school can be so problematic. Alexander sips on a blood bag and makes his way to the auditorium. He greets some people on the way there and takes an empty seat next to Hope.

"Morning, Hope."

"Good morning, Alexander."

"What is it this time?"

"We're about to find out."

Alaric stands up to the podium and all the students in the auditorium grow quiet. "Given our recent influx of monsters, the sheriff and I have decided we need to take drastic action. Please give him your full attention."

A blonde man with a beige uniform and shiny badge steps up. "Like Dr. Saltzman was saying, local girls Dana Lilien and Sasha Stoteraux didn't come home last night. Dana sometimes skips town for a few days to party, but this is the first for Sasha."

Pictures of the two girls get passed around and Alexander's eyes widen when he realizes the blonde is the mean girl from the tournament game that Lizzie punched.

"Alexander," Hope whispers.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know anything about this?"

"What are you implying, Hope?" Alexander asks, offended. He doesn't blame the tribrid, he was likely to feed on humans if he was around them, but for once, Alexander was not at fault.

"Are you still feeding on humans?"

"Unfortunately, no. You can use the truth orb if you still don't trust me."

"I'm just double-checking. I'll take your word for it."

"Now, I'll need a few of you to volunteer to go to Mystic Falls High under the guise of an exchange program meant to improve relations between our schools, which, unfortunately, is necessary, given recent events. Now, I give you permission to compel them, to gather materials for locator spells, because any information we can get will make all the difference."

The whole auditorium watches Lizzie stand up from her chair and move to the front of the podium, gathering everyone's attention. 

"Well, I guess that I can set aside my differences with Dana for a day because that is what heroes do. So...I volunteer as tribute."

Alexander scoffs at Lizzie, an amused smile on his face at the blonde's speech. "How is she even real?"

"She battles one gargoyle, and suddenly, she's Mother Teresa," Hope mutters under her breath.

Other students begin standing from their chairs, volunteering for the expedition. Alexander finds himself to be one of those students volunteering as well.

* * *

After the assembly and talking to the twins, Alexander walks to his dorm room for any last preparations. The hybrid has everything he needs and leaves to get on the bus with everybody else.

Many of the seats are occupied except for Hope and Landon who sit separately. The hybrid decides to sit next to Landon since he sat with Hope during the assembly. Landon looks out of the window with a glum expression on his face. He gets taken by surprise when Alexander sits next to him.

"Please, don't make me regret sitting here." Alexander sighs.

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing? You're in no position to judge me." Alexander scoffs, looking down at his white button up and dark dress pants.

Landon rolls his eyes and goes back to looking out the window like a depressed teenager before he does a double take at Alexander.

"Wait, I recognize your voice. You're the guy I shared a prison cell with!" Landon gasps.

"Yes, the one and only." Alexander doesn't share the same enthusiasm, wondering if Hope would mind sharing a seat with him.

"How's life, being a criminal and all?" Alexander cracks at Landon.

"So you've heard..." Landon frowns.

"Everyone heard." Alexander shrugs his shoulders. 

"Why isn't your friend here, Rafael, I believe that's his name?"

"Bus isn't big enough. Apparently, I'm more valuable anyways. I used to go to Mystic Falls High a long time ago."

"You were real popular there, weren't you?" Alexander jokes.

Landon doesn't laugh but stares at Alexander with a blank expression.

Alexander coughs, getting comfortable in his seat. "It was kind of funny."

* * *

The students all pile out of the bus and Alexander takes in his surroundings. The hybrid looks for anything out of the ordinary, but most of the students seem normal, going on with their daily routine.

Landon bumps into Lizzie's shoulder and Alexander has to stifle a laugh. The students have gathered around in a mini huddle for a game plan.

"Alright, here's the deal. Landon, you talk to any of the people you still know from when you went here." Landon opens his mouth to say something but decides against it. Alexander pats his back in reassurance.

"Hope, you try not to deliberately alienate the entire student body. Alexander, you stay exactly the same way you are because you are _perfect_ and I love you and the rest of us will save the world" MG's face twists into one of betrayal and Alexander shakes his head.

"This isn't a contest, Lizzie." Hope already looks done for the day, tired of the blonde's attitude.

"You're right. It's a mission for a hero and her league of...whatevers."

"Yeah, screw that. I work alone." Kaleb walks away from the group, already dismissing Dr. Saltzman's orders.

"MG, I need your compulsion skills. Would you like to be the Robin to my Batwoman?"

"Actually, Batwoman doesn't have a Robin." The vampire corrects her.

"Metaphor, nerd. Let's go." Lizzie drags away MG leaving Alexander with Hope and Landon. The two look at each other in an awkward silence causing Alexander to sigh.

"This is going to be a fun day, isn't it?"

* * *

Landon gives the two of them a tour around the school in a very depressing and melancholic manner.

"This is the senior hallway, where I spent much of my formative years stuffed in every locker...except this one." The curly-haired boy bangs on a locker.

"That one doesn't open. On your left, you'll find the bathroom. It's where I had my first kiss with a toilet."

"I'm sorry. Is the fact that I'm not openly hostile to you make it seem like we're back to being friends?" Hope snaps, taking the hybrid by surprise.

"Uh, sorry. Just, I was going for effortlessly natural. But this is all just making me really nervous. Like, the school and seeing Connor and being with you..."

"Shouldn't you be talking to anyone you know?"

"That's easier said than done. There is no way Dana's clique is talking to me unless you have a spell that will make me retroactively cool."

"Well, I'll talk to them, then." Hope folds her arms across her chest.

"It's even worse for you. Trust me. You have no idea how human high schools work. You're the new girl. Might as well be radioactive."

A cheerleader with pigtails walks up to the group and talks to Hope and Alexander. "You guys look traumatized. Is this loser bothering you?"

"He keeps trying to get me to buy his mixtape."

"Gross." The cheerleader scoffs. "Well, we're going to lunch. You hungry?"

"Famished." Hope walks away with the cheerleader and Landon raises his eyebrows when Alexander doesn't walk with them.

"I actually really wanted to know more about that mixtape. We can let Hope play Regina George at a human high school, she already does it back at school. I think you forgot this is her natural state."

* * *

The bell rings and Alexander and Landon run into Hope in the hallway who now has red cat ears on her head.

"Let me guess. Pigtails spilled her guts and confessed to kidnapping Dana and Sasha. Case closed."

"Her name's Cheryl, and not exactly. But she did invite me to try out for the cheerleading team." Hope smirks proudly.

"Who are you right now? And what is that thing on your head?"

"It's a gift...from Cheryl."

"Did she get it off the clearance section at Claire's?" Alexander chuckles.

"You're better than this, Hope."

"Relax, Eeyore. Dana gave it to her. It's potential locator spell material. Plus, even though Sasha and Connor are dating, Dana was sleeping with him behind her back."

"Yeah, some clue. Everyone at this school knows Connor's a dick." Landon rolls his eyes, unfazed by the information. 

"Come on, Landon. Adultery, missing girls... it's like every TV show that old people watch. A "crime of passion," I think they call it."

"I know Connor. He's made my life a living hell, but he's not a killer. Trust me."

"Trusting you is what got us into this mess in the first place." Hope practically snarls at him. "Look, there's Connor right now," Hope exclaims and Landon almost jumps out of his skin.

"So do you want to play good cop or bad cop? Because I don't think "emo cop" is a thing."

"Oh, very funny. But while you were off making friends, Alexander and I did some sleuthing."

"You see the white girl who looks like a really bad french tourist? She's wearing a scarf even though it's almost 95 degrees outside." Alexander points out.

"Sounds like a lead, I think they call it."

The three of them follow behind the curly blonde, leading them outside of the school. The blonde meets up with Kaleb who's about to feed on her. 

"Let her go," Hope interrupts him.

Kaleb sighs when he gets caught and compels the girl to return to class. Lizzie and MG eventually join the group and Kaleb gets upset at MG.

"Don't get mad at MG." Lizzie scoffs. "Second place or not, we know you killed Dana."

Alexander's jaw drops at the information, sucking in his cheeks. The hybrid feels like it's not his place to say anything.

"Dr. Saltzman said they found her dead from a vampire bite," MG explains. 

"I didn't kill her, so y'all need to get the hell outta my face." The vampire tries to speed away but Lizzie stops him with a pain infliction spell.

"Come on guys, let's go. It's hero time."

"To the blondemobile." Hope sighs.

"Can I be The Flash?"

The group catches up with Kaleb who doesn't seem to happy about being cornered by his peers.

"I told you all I did was feed." Kaleb defends himself. "You can torture me all you want to but my answer is going to remain the same because I didn't kill Dana."

"Uh, he's right," Landon speaks up.

"What, so you're a mind reader now, Landon?" Lizzie raises her eyebrows at the loner.

Alexander listens closely to Kaleb's heartbeat which remains stable. The hybrid presses his lips together in a thin line, taking in a deep breath. 

"No, Landon is right. Kaleb is telling the truth unless my superhearing says otherwise."

"Call it a hunch." Landon shrugs his shoulders.

Lizzie is about to say something else when Dana walks through the bushes with pale-sickly skin before collapsing to the ground. Both Alexander and MG help Dana up and sit her down on one of the benches.

"We were on the way to graffiti that mill at your school. It was a harmless prank. But then I got snatched. Next thing I remember, I woke up in a ditch. So enjoy it while you can, Lizzie. I'm sure I look like crap."

The blonde human reaches her hand up to touch her neck, gasping when she feels the bite mark.

"Oh my gosh, what is that?" The bite mark on her neck doesn't look normal, almost infected. Instead of red, it's a deep purple color with some yellow.

"It's..." Hope tries to come up with an explanation, but nothing comes to mind. "Someone help me out here."

"It's the mother of all hickeys. You're fine, Dana. You're just a-a little slutty." Lizzie explains.

"I don't even like any of you." Dana scoffs. "I should be talking to the cops."

"I can't let you do that," Landon steps in front of her.

Hope casts a sleeping spell on Dana and the blonde falls to the floor once again.

"So you didn't kill her. You freaking turned her?" Lizzie accuses Kaleb.

"Turned her?" Kaleb looks at the girl on the floor. "You think I want to sit and listen to that for all eternity?"

"Well, someone did, meaning that we have a transitioning vampire on our hands. So what are we gonna do with her?"

"It's Dana's decision, why don't we just ask her?" Alexander asks as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"If she starts giving me attitude again, she can die for all I care." Lizzie scrunches her nose up.

Hope wakes her up with a reversal spell and Dana sits up from where she was previously laying in the back of the bus. 

"Did I pass out? I don't feel so well."

"We know how you feel. And it's okay, you're just hungry." Hope sympathizes with the blonde.

"Anorexia was sophomore year. This is something else." Dana hunches over. Alexander scrunches his face up, folding his arms across his chest.

"You'll feel better after you feed. I promise."

Dana begins projectile vomiting on the ground, dark green liquid spilling all over the concrete. Alexander jumps back due to his reflexes, almost gagging at the sight. "Damn, bitch! You need a therapist." Alexander covers his face with his hands.

"What that girl eat?" Kaleb frowns.

Alexander grows concerned when a few minutes pass and the human doesn't stop throwing up.

"Dana? Dana!" Hope calls out. The girl doesn't stop until her body turns flat and there is nothing else inside of her.

"She literally looks like Flat Stanley." Alexander comments. The students all stand around Dana's corpse in awe. "I don't think she's a transitioning vampire."

"Should we call your dad?" Hope asks Lizzie.

"What? So he could take another bullet for you?"

"No because whatever did this wasn't a vampire. It's got to be another monster after the knife."

Kaleb gets in Landon's face and begins accusing him. Alexander rolls his eyes, wanting nothing more than to get the day over with.

"You believe me, right?" Landon frowns. Everyone in the group stays silent and Landon shakes his head, walking off on his own.

"Despite all the coincidences and poor timing, the hybrid still felt that Landon was telling the truth. A few minutes pass before Alexander sets off to go find Landon.

The hybrid finds Landon confronting Connor and sucker punches him in the face. Connor doesn't seem fazed by the punch except for the open hole in his cheek. Landon steps back in shock, slowly backing away from the creature who inhabits Connor's face.

"Landon, let's go!" 

The two catch up with the rest of the group and Landon holds the creature's face up. "Do you think an we do a tracking spell with this?"

* * *

The group of students are all running through the forest when MG's phone starts ringing. He picks up the phone and sees Dr. Saltzman's contact name. The vampire hands the phone over to Lizzie.

"It's for you. No way I'm telling your dad what we're about to do."

Lizzie grabs the phone and panics. "I suck at lying!" She hands the phone over to Landon. "You're great at it."

Landon frowns at the phone and hands it over to Hope. "You're his favorite."

Hope hands the phone back to Lizzie. "You're the hero."

Alexander rolls his eyes, snatching the phone from Lizzie's hand before the call ends. 

"Hi Dr. Saltzman! How's your day been?"

"Alexander? Are you with everyone?" Dr. Saltzman asks, surprised the hybrid answered the phone. "I thought I'd call, check in, see how things are going." 

"Things are going great on our end, couldn't be better." Alexander smiles innocently.

"Are you sure, Alexander? Because I don't think that involves me tracking down Dana's body to the glove compartment." Alaric scolds him.

Alexander winces, biting the tip of his finger. "Everything is going to be fine, Dr. Saltzman. We've figured out a solution and we're on the trail right now." Alexander reasons with the headmaster.

Lizzie grabs the phone from Alexander, interrupting them. "Daddy! It's a spider. A really big, nasty spider. And MG's comic books know how to kill it."

"Comic books? Really? Lizzie, listen to me, whatever you're thinking of doing, don't, okay? So just tell me where you are, and Matt and i will be right there. And where is Hope?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. You gonna have to trust me for once." Lizzie hangs up the phone on her father and hands the mobile device back to MG.

"Let's do this."

* * *

The students all get back to the school in time to stop the spider from tormenting everyone else. Rafael helps unwebbing Sasha. 

At the end of the day, Alexander always looks forward to going to sleep. The hybrid steps out of the shower and hopes he gets the smell of Dana's rotting corpse off of his body. He wraps a towel around his waist and heads to his dorm but he gets stopped by Landon.

"Hey man, what's up?" Alexander asks the curly-haired boy who catches him offguard.

"Um, I just wanted to thank you for today." Landon has his hands in his pockets, looking down at the ground.

"If you're going to talk to me Kirby, the least you could do is look at me in the face." Alexander smirks.

Landon coughs, finally looking up at the hybrid. The human tries his best to not look at Alexander's lower area.

"When everyone else was against me, you were the only one on my side. I'm not used to be separated from Rafael, but today proved at least I have someone else looking out for me."

"Don't get all soft on me now, Kirby. I have heightened senses. I can tell when people are lying and when they're telling the truth. Everyone is too clouded by their judgment to actually listen, but they'll come around. Don't listen to them. Supernaturals try to seem all high and mighty, but it's hard to remember they're still sensitive like humans." Alexander shrugs his shoulders.

"Have a little faith. Or Hope in this situation." The hybrid snickers at his own joke. "Have a good night, Landon."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3


	8. roses & ditches

Alexander grumbles in his sleep, turning towards the other side on his bed. His body twitches when he feels somebody poking at his side.

"Whoever it is, go away." The hybrid mumbles.

"No can do." Hope sighs, dragging the covers off of Alexander.

The hybrid shivers from the sudden change and sits up with a messy bedhead. His sheets are wrinkled and Alexander wipes the crust from his eyes, glaring at the tribrid.

"I could've been sleeping naked."

"It's a good thing you weren't." Hope rolls her eyes, throwing Alexander's uniform onto his bed. "Get dressed, you have a test today."

"Wow, you really know how to have a good time, don't you?" Alexander grunts, changing into his uniform.

The hybrid follows Hope out into an empty field of green grass. "Do you mind telling me what test I'm taking?"

"When we first accepted you into the school, we're supposed to give you an exam on all your powers and abilities. But you know with everything going on... we got a little sidetracked, but today is that day. It's not graded or anything. We just want to know what you're capable of. This shouldn't take long, I have to do Landon's after this." Hope sighs in despair.

"You've seen what I'm capable of," Alexander whines lazily, laying down on the lush grass beneath him.

"These are all just formalities. Every student here gets tested." Hope smiles at the hybrid. "But I'll try to finish this as fast as I can, okay? Now, I want you to run five laps around the school with and without your vampire speed."

"If I do this, can I watch you torment Landon?"

"Fine."

* * *

After the test and getting his blood drawn, the hybrid quickly washes up so he can catch up with Hope, not wanting to miss out on Landon's inevitable doom. He storms into the lab and Hope sits at a table, inspecting different vials and test tubes. To be honest, Alexander got a bit lost. All the classrooms looked the same, he just searched for the familiar auburn-haired girl.

"Did I miss anything?" Alexander huffs, catching his breath.

"Nope! Landon should be here any minute."

Just like magic, Landon shows up in the doorway. He doesn't seem too delighted to see the tribrid, almost repulsed by her. "What are you doing here?" Landon asks, referring to Hope.

The tribrid turns around at Landon's voice, standing up from her seat. "Dr. Saltzman wanted me to administer your tests, starting with some weird mystical blood analysis."

"I'm just here for entertainment." Alexander smiles innocently with his hands folded in his lap.

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No. These tests determine whether or not I get to stay at the school, right?" Hope nods her head. "There is no way I'm putting my future in your hands; you're biased."

"I'm not biased." Hope defends herself. "Besides, neither of us have a choice. Believe me, this is not how I would choose to spend my day either."

"See? Biased." Landon turns around to walk out the door.

"Landon. The last thing that you told me was that you wanted to find answers about who or what you are. I want those answers, too. So let's just get through this."

* * *

The three of them are back out on the empty field. Hope holds a stopwatch, timing all of Landon's abilities, and Alexander sips a glass of iced tea with sunglasses on his face.

Landon does a series of tests similar to Alexander's. He tries reaching for a ribbon off of a tall branch, doing a headstand, and lifting logs.

Hope sighs hopelessly and stops the stopwatch in her hand. "You can stop now. You failed. You have no supernatural strength."

"What's next?" Landon's chest heaves up and down as he tries to catch his breath. He hunches over with his hands on his knees.

Alexander would've felt some sympathy for the human, but he's too preoccupied with his iced tea that has a pink swirly straw. He enjoys watching Landon attempt to prove himself. It gives him the same rush as watching someone fall in public and you have to force yourself to not laugh.

"Next? You failed the vertical climb, the long jump, and you straight-up refused to swim across the lake." Hope scoffs with her arms folded across her chest.

"Yeah, well, excuse the foster kid for never having swim lessons. Look, I might suck at everything, apparently, but I only have to pass one test to stay, so I'm not giving up yet."

Alexander rolls his eyes, taking a long sip of his iced tea. "Jesus, do you ever talk about anything else? Nobody mentioned your mommy and daddy issues. If you want to feel special, you're at the wrong place, bud. All of the students here suffer from lack of adult supervision. No offense to Dr. Saltzman."

"How's it going?" Emma walks up to the three of them. The counselor raises her eyebrows when she sees Alexander in a lawn chair, sipping iced tea.

"Alexander, what are you doing here? This is supposed to be a private session. You could be effecting Landon's performance."

"Trust me, Emma. He's doing all that on his own." Alexander sighs, sucking his straw loudly.

"Landon was about to run sprints to the lake and back." Hope clicks the stopwatch in her hand to start, signaling for the boy to begin running.

Landon quickly takes off in the distance and Alexander snickers. "He runs funny."

"What are you testing for, exactly?" Emma asks.

"His ability to get away from me as quickly as possible. If he's gonna stay in this school, it's a must."

"Did you run the lineage spell that I left you?"

"Yeah, first thing. Zero magic in his bloodline." Emma hums and Hope raises her eyebrow.

"Most humans have some trace of magical blood in their veins from a far-flung ancestor."

"So what does that mean?"

"We need to learn more about Landon's past."

"That's my queue to leave." Alexander clears his throat. "Thank you for letting me watch Kirby squirm for a few hours. This school should be on television or something." Alexander grabs his lawn chair and is about to walk away but Emma stops him.

"Actually, Alexander, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Me?" Alexander laughs. "I haven't done anything."

"No you haven't, but there's a slight situation. We need to have a chat in my office."

* * *

Alexander finds himself in Emma's office. He sits in a leather chair next to the window and his sunglasses are pushed to the top of his head. He bounces his leg up and down anxiously, waiting for the counselor to sit with him. He racks his head for anything he could've done for him to get into trouble.

"What's the problem?" Alexander asks right when Emma steps into the room.

"When Hope ran the lineage spell on you, we found large amounts of magic in your bloodline." 

"Okay," Alexander shrugs. "You said humans would have a small amount from your ancestors. I'm a hybrid. Isn't that normal?"

"Well, in this case, with this amount of magic, you would be able to practice magic."

Alexander's face twists in confusion. His whole life he grew up around witches but he always felt like an outsider. While they practiced magic, Alexander would watch in the distance. The only thing dividing them was his bloodthirst. He would watch the witches perform spells and Alexander would try to copy them, but nothing ever worked.

"That's not true. I've tried spellcasting before, it didn't work."

"It's because you're in denial, Alexander. You spent your whole life being told you're not a witch that you started to believe them."

"So you're telling me... I'm a tribrid."

"Yes."

"Does this mean I have to take more classes?" Alexander frowns.

* * *

"Emma, why are we in the garden?" Alexander whines when Emma says she's going to take Alexander somewhere.

The counselor holds up a small potted plant and it reminds Alexander of when the gargoyle showed up and attacked Lizzie. She shows Alexander the little seeds hidden in the soil.

"This seed is going to grow into a beautiful rose. You're going to make it grow. Picture the rose in your mind, however, you want it to look like."

Emma hands the pot of soil into Alexander's hands and the tribrid releases a shaky breath. 

"Remember you're pulling the magical force from nature itself. If you do it for your own personal greed, it's dark magic. Dark magic is strictly forbidden here." Emma warns him.

"Now close your eyes and repeat after me. _Granum profectus_ ,"

Alexander takes in a deep breath through his nose before exhaling through his mouth. He repeats after Emma, visualizing the rose in his head.

The seeds in the tiny pot begin sprouting, a green stem rises from the soil, eventually blooming into a vibrant red rose.

"You have so much potential, Alexander. Don't let it go to waste." 

"Thank you, Emma."

"No need to thank me. Just promise you'll use your powers for good." 

"Am I supposed to be telling everyone about this?" Alexander asks Emma.

"I would wait until we know a bit more about your situation before we go around telling people, but it'll be soon. Don't worry about it. For now, try to keep a low profile about your magical side." Alexander nods his head and Emma leaves the garden and walks back to her office.

The hybrid is on his way to the library when he sees Josie mumbling to herself. He knows how Lizzie has been driving the brunette crazy. Alexander feels at fault because Josie is too polite to say anything back to her sister.

"Hey, Jo. You okay?"

"Sorry, I can't really talk right now, Alex. I've been busy helping Lizzie's campaign."

"Hmm, that explains the weird posters." Alexander clicks his tongue.

"What weird posters?"

"You have a really interesting campaigning technique. Humor is a good way for people to vote for you."

"Alex, what are you talking about?" Josie asks, growing impatient.

The hybrid points to a poster of Lizzie's face. Underneath the illustration, "I'm with herpes" is written underneath. Josie snatches the poster off of the wall angrily along with the rest of the posters in the hallway. Alexander follows behind her with his hands in his pockets.

"Is Lizzie the only one running for honor council?"

Josie shrugs her shoulders, grabbing a pink sweater out of her bag and handing it to a female student. "I wouldn't leave Penelope out. She's always up to something."

Alexander takes a note of Josie's frazzled state and the tribrid grabs Josie's hand to stop her from walking away. "Hey, relax. I know Lizzie can be a real pain in the ass, but take a moment for yourself to breathe too." Alexander frowns. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Alex. I'm fine." Josie tries to pull away but Alexander's grip on the siphoner doesn't weaken. 

"The way you say it, it almost sounds like a broken record, Josie. You don't have to be at Lizzie's beck and call."

"You're new here, Alex. You wouldn't understand." Josie snatches her hand back from Alexander and walks to the lobby where the announcements for honor council are being made, ignoring the tribrid's voice echoing in her head. Josie's lips curl into a frown, folding her arms across her chest. She didn't appreciate how Alexander spoke to her like that and she especially didn't appreciate him seeing right through her.

The two of them head to the lobby where they place their votes for the honor council. Everyone takes their seats and while Emma announces the winners.

Emma announces Rafael, Kaleb, and Josie are new members of the honor council. Both MG and Lizzie look horrified, betrayed by their own peers.

* * *

The tribrid spends some alone time after, enjoying one of his many nature strolls around the campus. One thing he loved about the school was all the trees and green grass. He notices the familiar blue flannel belonging to Landon, talking to Jed. Alexander never really figured the two were friends, but kept his distance from the two, not really in the mood for socializing.

Alexander is about to walk away when he hears the two arguing. Jed pushes Landon down and ditch and Alexander curses under his breath. He looks around the other bystander and the tribrid throws his hands up in the air. _Jesus, is this what Hope feels like?_

He rushes behind the two and catches Jed continuously punching Landon. When the ex-alpha kicks Landon's side, the tribrid scoffs, tapping Jed's shoulder. The werewolf turns around in confusion and Alexander punches Jed in the jaw, sending him down to the ground as well.

"Last I heard, you got your ass handed to you by Rafael. Don't take it out on his friend because you're incapable of following your duty." Alexander spits.

Alexander walks over to Landon who has blood running all over his mouth. The tribrid grunts, helping Landon off of the ground and wrapping one of his arms around his shoulders.

"Alright, supernatural punching bag. Let's get you back inside. I'll get your girlfriend for you. Hope too." Alexander snickers. "Maybe they'll feed you grapes while you suffer in your little sickly body." Alexander jokes, helping Landon back inside to his dorm room.

Alexander makes sure Landon is safe in bed before he goes out to search for Hope and Rafael, alerting them of their friend's wounds. Both Hope and Rafael follow Alexander instantly and Rafael growls at the sight of Landon, bruised and sore in his bed.

"I'm going to tear Jed apart." Rafael threatens him.

"No, you're really not." Hope shakes her head, standing in front of the new alpha.

"He's gonna pay for what he did. He could've killed him!"

"Hmm, I kind of already did that." Alexander chuckles. "Oopsie."

"You want to do something to help Landon? Take a walk to the herb garden and get me some hazelwood root."

Rafael takes in a deep breath before angrily stomping out of the room. Hope looks at Alexander expectedly and the tribrid's eyes widen in realization.

"Oh right, sorry. Goodnight you guys." The tribrid gets the hint the two want to be alone and he awkwardly shuffles out of the dorm room, closing the door behind him.

Alexander is happy Landon is good hands and changes into his pajamas. He's about to open the door to his room when he hears his name behind called down the hall.

"Alexander." The tribrid turns around, sighing at the sight of Emma, not wanting to deal with anything else.

"Emma, can this wait until later? I have my jammies on." Alexander whines.

"A little birdy told me that you fought Jed before he disappeared." Emma folds her arms across her chest at the tribrid.

"What do you mean he disappeared?"

"Jed is nowhere to be found. If we find him dead somewhere, his blood will be on your hands, Alexander. For now, the school has a zero-tolerance policy. You will be serving detention tomorrow afternoon."

"But-" The tribrid tries to defend himself but Emma is already walking away, the sound of her boots clicking against the floor.

"Goodnight, Alexander! Sweet dreams."

Before he heads to his dorm room for the night, Alexander makes an impulse decision and heads to the library. He scans the shelves for beginner's magic and witchcraft. He drops all the textbooks onto the table and takes in a deep breath. Time to hit the books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shocker alexander is a tribrid  
> thanks for reading! <3


	9. let the bodies hit the floor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is alexander's outfit for the twins' birthday party

The next day, students are bustling with decorations for the twins' sweet sixteen birthday party. Alexander grumbles when he remembers volunteering to help set up the party. After he finishes getting dressed, he heads down to the lobby where the party is being set up. Alexander spends most of the day rearranging furniture. Both MG and Penelope are bickering next to the food table and Alexander can't help but overhear their conversation.

"Dude, I am here to help."

"By telling Josie and Lizzie that their mom isn't coming?" 

"Oh, that was just for Lizzie, who is taking Rafael as her date instead of you. So why are you doing all of this to try and make her party perfect?"

"'Cause a man's gotta shoot his shot," MG smirks.

"Oh my god. No. I can't take it anymore. As your friend, I demand that you retrieve your little MG's from Lizzie's grip. Alexander, don't you think he's pathetic?"

Alexander unloads his last stack of chairs, sighing at the chaotic duo. "Pathetic isn't the word I would use. You're a sweet guy, MG. Any girl would be lucky to receive your attention." Alexander brushes his hands off onto his pants.

"But I don't want any girl. I want Lizzie." The vampire pouts.

Penelope closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath before she opens her eyes and smiles at the vampire. 

"Fine, I'll make you a deal. I will keep werewolf Prince Charming away from the party long enough for you to shoot your one, final, inevitably failed shot. And when it's over and the Queen of Mean has broken your heart all over again, promise me that you will let Lizzie go." Penelope frowns at MG.

Alexander chuckles at the two, shaking his head. The tribrid lends a helping hand to anyone else that needs it and leaves to get ready for the party. Alexander puts on a white button-up with some dark grey pants. He wears a matching dark grey vest with a tie and dark boots. 

After he finishes getting ready, the tribrid grabs his birthday presents he picked out for the twins and heads down to the party. As Alexander walks closer, the booming bass causes the walls and floor to thump with the music. When Alexander finally gets to the party, streamers hang from the ceiling and a DJ plays some of Lizzie's favorite music. Alexander places the birthday presents down at the designated gift table. The tribrid didn't plan on staying long. He'd probably stay for a bit and mingle and then head back to his room later to crash. Alexander hums along to the music, helping himself to a blood bag.

Everyone at the party cheers when Lizzie arrives at the top of the staircase. The emcee announces Lizzie's appearance and Alexander hums when Rafael is nowhere to be found. He smiles at the sight of MG stepping in for Rafael and Alexander returns to enjoying the party.

After a while, Alexander is about to leave the party when he passes by MG. Alexander noticed MG's sad expression on his face when Rafael showed up, whisking Lizzie away. Alexander groans at his inner moral compass and turns around toward the vampire.

"Do you want to dance, MG?"

"Thanks, but no thanks, Alexander. I think I've had enough dancing for tonight." MG pouts.

"Then we don't have to dance. We can just sit outside in silence, awkwardly glancing at each other." The tribrid offers.

"Hmm, okay. That works for me." MG shrugs sadly.

The two walk outside and take a seat on the deck. Alexander lays on his back, looking up at the stars in the sky.

"Lizzie is really lucky to have you, MG." 

"It doesn't feel like it." The vampire mumbles.

"If she's really worth it, no amount of time will change the way you feel about her."

"Hey, have you seen Josie?" Penelope walks up to both of them. Despite Penelope's usual carefree attitude, Alexander can see the soft spot the witch has for Josie.

"She's probably having the time of her life like I was until Prince Charming showed up and turned me into the pumpkin." 

Alexander sits up, patting MG's shoulder reassuringly.

"I have hate in my heart." The vampire frowns. He gets up and grabs a nearby axe. "I'm ready for battle. We're gonna duel."

"No. No, we're not doing that. I'm holding you to our deal. As of this moment, Lizzie Saltzman's canceled."

Footsteps approach them belong to Hope in a red dress and a shovel and flashlight in both of her hands. The tribrid almost doesn't recognize her from the makeup on her face.

"You gonna howl at the moon wearing that?" Penelope smirks at the tribrid.

"Sorry, no time for bitchy banter." Hope continues walking but stops in her steps, turning around.

"Actually... I could use your help in finding Josie."

"What happened?"

"Apparently, her possessed biological mother buried her alive in the cemetery," Hope explains.

Somehow Alexander has heard worst sentences, which is why he remains unfazed. "We're coming with you." Alexander gets up and Penelope grabs a shovel to assist the tribrid.

The four of them all head out to the cemetery surrounded by trees. The crunching of twigs and leaves fills Alexander's ears as they search for Josie. "Listen for breathing," Hope instructs.

"Hold on, I hear something." MG grabs a shovel, digging down into the dirt below them.

All of a sudden, a hand pops out from the ground, scaring the three of them. The hand wraps around MG's leg causing him to fall to the ground and Penelope tries giving it a good whack. The zombie continues grabbing MG until he strikes through the zombie's brain with the shovel.

"To kill a walker, you got to go for the brain. Everybody knows that." Alexander laughs at how MG's knowledge of science fiction comes in handy whenever they're battling monsters.

"Yeah, every nerd maybe. Just call it a zombie." Penelope scoffs.

More zombies start popping up around them, snarling and growling. The group huddles together back to back, breathing heavily.

"This is not how I imagined to be spending my night."

"Alexander and MG, go find Josie. We'll take out the zombies."

"On it." Alexander listens for any sort of breathing, but it's difficult with all of the zombies around them.

"We're kind of running out of time here!"

The tribrid gasps when he hears Josie crying and starts digging into the ground with his bare hands.

"I found her! Get over here!"

A soft hand shoots up and MG grabs it, helping Josie out of the dirt. The siphoner gasps for air, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"The talisman, it worked." Hope sighs in relief. 

"What's it supposed to do?" 

"Make quiet things heard."

"Happy birthday, Josie!" Alexander cheers, doing jazz hands at the siphoner.

Penelope, Hope, and MG stare at Alexander incredulously, but a tiny smile creeps onto Josie's face and that's all the tribrid needed.

The three of them help Josie inside and get cleaned up. After making sure everyone is okay, Alexander quickly heads to bed. He doesn't even bother changing out of his clothes, falling asleep as soon as he lays on the mattress.

* * *

When the tribrid wakes up the next day, he furrows his eyebrows. Apparently it was a holiday: Remembrance Day. Students would write letters to the people they lost and the letters would be spread amongst the cemetery. The tribrid doesn't know what to write. He doesn't know anyone close to him who has died or he hasn't gotten close to anyone at all.

Alexander spends most of his morning painting in the courtyard. The canvas is full of dark greens and baby blues. The tribrid makes careful strokes against the canvas, trying to capture the landscape in front of him.

"It's a beautiful painting, Alexander." 

"Thank you, Emma. Can I help you with anything today?"

"Have you written a letter yet?"

"Actually, I have." The tribrid pulls an envelope out from his pocket and hands it to the counselor.

Emma's eyes skim over the cursive handing on the envelope.

_To the coven who abused_

_me my whole life_

The counselor opens the envelope, only seeing two words written on the piece of paper.

_Fuck you._

"This is a serious day for others, Alexander. It's not a joke." Emma scolds him softly.

"Emma, I can't participate. Besides the witches, I've been alone my whole life. I haven't lost anyone." Alexander sets his paintbrush down angrily.

"Okay, maybe you don't know anyone who died, but you can write a letter to someone who you don't see or talk to anymore. It could be a person, place, or thing."

"If I say okay, will you go away?"

The counselor nods her head and Alexander sighs, nodding his head as well. The tribrid finishes his painting and cleans everything up. 

Alexander goes to the only place where he can focus. The tribrid tries distracting himself with study material for the upcoming midterm exams, but Alexander's mind is racing too fast to remember vocabulary terms. 

Alexander scans the bookshelves out of curiosity. His fingers stroke the spines of all the books and he frowns at the lack of material in the hybrid section. Most of the books all recite the same text. The tribrid growls in defeat and packs up all his things before heading towards the cemetery. Alexander watches everyone place their letters in front of tombstones. 

The tribrid finds a secluded spot underneath a tree and sits down, his back pressing against the tree bark. Despite the sad and gloomy atmosphere, the tribrid felt at peace. Alexander pulls a notebook and he finds himself writing down every single thought occurring through his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3


	10. don't let the bed bugs bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mentions of death!

Two days have passed by like a blur. The tribrid groans when he's woken up in the middle of the night for an emergency assembly. He shuffles to the main staircase in his pajamas. 

The headmaster announces the finding of another Malivore artifact and the evacuation of the younger class. Alexander crosses his fingers underneath the table, hoping for exam week to get canceled.

Despite his constant studying, the tribrid didn't feel like sitting at a desk for several hours, filling in answers and bubbles.

"However, exam week will continue as scheduled, wherever you are." Alexander curses under his breath, uncrossing his fingers.

"I know. I'm sorry. I can't exactly call the state accreditation board and tell them that we're canceling exams because of monsters."

Alexander does a double-take when he sees Landon sitting at a table with Rafael. The tribrid knew Hope went on a rescue mission, but Alexander didn't know rescuing meant bringing him back to the school. Alexander noticed he didn't see Hope at the assembly, humming in thought.

Dr. Saltzman excuses them and the tribrid scoots his chair back. After Rafael leaves Landon, Alexander bumps into him in the hallway.

"Kirby! You're back!" Alexander grins at the curly-haired student.

"Alex!" Landon laughs, throwing his arms around the tribrid. Landon was glad at least one person was happy to see him. Hope and Rafael didn’t really count since the curly-haired boy has known them for so long. "Good to see you man! How are you doing?"

"The school hasn't been the same without you. Yeah, you always bring danger wherever you go, but that's the fun part about you." Alex wraps his arms around Landon's neck and rubs his knuckles against Landon's head.

"Thanks, I guess?" Landon chuckles, fixing his hair from Alexander.

"I'm beat, but I'll catch up with you soon. Don't be a stranger. Good luck with your exams." Alexander smiles.

Landon waves goodbye and wishes Alexander good luck on his exams. The tribrid walks back to his dorm room and falls back asleep before his exams the next morning.

* * *

Alexander furrows his eyebrows in confusion when he finds himself in the middle of a large body of water. The moonlight reflects onto the water and there's a shore in the distance. 

The tribrid swims through the freezing cold water toward land, but with every stroke, the shore gets farther and farther, no matter how fast he swims.

Alexander tries calling out for help but there's nobody around him. The only sound around him are the waves sloshing together and a seagull squawking above him.

The tribrid panics, his body tired from trying to stay afloat. While he's underwater, a dark figure appears in front of him with a black veil and matching dress. The dark clad figure shrieks at him causing Alexander to thrash around. Water fills his nose and eventually his lungs as he sinks deeper underwater, his eyes closing in defeat.

When Alexander wakes up, he gasps for air. He sits up, coughing out water that was stuck in his chest. The tribrid does his best to catch his breath, his chest heaving up and down. Alexander has to remind himself he's back in his room and not in the middle of the ocean.

Alexander grunts, grabbing all the sheets off of his bed and stuffs them into a washer at the laundry room. He feels a dull ache in his chest and has himself get checked out by the school nurse before getting dressed for class.

The tribrid feels a weight is lifted off his shoulders after his day is done. After another assembly and completing all his exams, Alexander wants to do nothing more than hibernate for a few days.

He walks to the library to return a few books he borrowed. He slides the books into the return slot and is about to leave when he sees Landon drop a pile of books onto a table.

The tribrid sneaks up behind him, spooking Landon so much that he lets out a little girlish scream. 

Alexander lifts a finger to his lips, shaking his head.

"Gosh, Landon. Have you ever been to a library before? You're supposed to be quiet."

Landon rolls his eyes, taking a seat. "Haha, very funny. I'm just doing some research on our new monster."

"Oooh, the Night Hag?" Alexander wiggles his eyebrows up and down. "Do you need any help?"

"I've actually been trying to keep myself busy. Distract myself from other thoughts. But thank you for the offer."

"Then I shall bestow upon you my magnificent company. But first, do you prefer coffee or tea?"

"Have you seen the dark circles under my eyes? Coffee please." Landon opens up a book and Alexander nods his head.

Alexander fetches two coffee cups and returns to Landon, placing a mug down in front of him.

While Landon skims books for information, Alexander takes it upon himself to pull out his sketchbook. With a pencil, Alexander begins sketching Landon.

The tribrid enjoys the quiet atmosphere except for the sound of Landon flipping book pages. Alexander takes a sip of his coffee, humming at the taste.

Landon looks up from the book, his face deep in thought.

"Ooh, you're giving me crazy eyes right now. Either you discovered something or you need to go see an optometrist."

"I-I gotta go find Dr. Saltzman." Landon stands up from his chair and leaves in a hurry. Alexander isn't sure if he's ever seen Landon run that fast before.

* * *

Everyone gathers together in the common room where Hope and Landon share their discoveries about the not Night Hag but a black-winged shapeshifting dream demon.

"All I know is that the testosterone in this room is very suffocating." Alexander laughs, looking at all the males in the room, minus Hope.

"I know it sounds bad, but now that we know what the creature is, we can fight it." 

"How the hell are we supposed to kill a dream demon?" Rafael asks.

"Leave that part to me. But since I can't fall asleep without compromising the location of the urn, I need someone else to pull it out of the dream plane and into our waking reality." Hope explains.

"How the hell are we supposed to do that?" Rafael shakes his head in disbelief.

"If it's anything like the movies, we just grab and pull." MG shrugs his shoulders. Alexander wonders how much of MG’s knowledge about science fiction he applies to real life.

"Yeah, okay. Is it too late to get on the, uh, evacuation bus?" Kaleb's eyes widen when he realizes he's surrounded by a bunch of crazies.

"No. I mean, I'm not gonna ask all of you to stay for this, it has to be your choice."

"I'm not leaving unless Hope does." Landon declares.

"Simp," Alexander coughs under his breath. "Sorry, I drowned in a nightmare this morning. I probably still have some water stuck."

"I'm not leaving Landon behind." Rafael smiles.

"I'm a founding member of the Super Squad, so I can't bail." MG grins, standing up.

"Y'all gonna get yourselves killed." Kaleb looks at all of them, searching for some sign as to why he shouldn't walk away but he finds none. "If MG stays, I stay."

Alexander sighs, getting up from his chair. "Well, I'm not going to give some sappy, loyal friendship answer like the rest of you, but I am also an original member of the Super Squad so it is my duty to comply."

"In that case, it's naptime."

* * *

All the guys set up sleeping bags in the gymnasium. Alexander does his best attempt of fluffing the sleeping bag. They all lay in a circle and Alexander is set up between MG and Landon.

"I used to love sleeping, but this bitch wants me to get an ugly ceramic dog for her so bad." Alexander huffs in annoyance.

The tribrid gets himself comfortable and closes his eyes and at last, sleep takes over him.

Alexander finds himself in the Salvatore school again but instead of it's usual hustle and bustle, it's eerily quiet. So quiet to the point where the tribrid could hear a pin drop.

"Hello? Is anything there?" Alexander calls out. 

The tribrid frowns. He opens every classroom door but nobody is inside, no students, no teachers. There isn't even a janitor or custodian on sight.

Alexander turns to the main entrance and gasps. Bodies of everyone he knew lies on the floor. They all suffer from bite marks on the neck, blood dripping down onto the floor. Alexander's breath gets shaky when he sees his foot in a puddle of blood.

"No, no, no..." Alexander crouches down next to Josie, trying to shake her awake. "Come on, Jo, please. Stay with me."

Alexander gasps when he hears coughing and runs over to Hope, trying to not step on any of the bodies.

"Hope! Please tell me you're still okay!" Alexander tries to help Hope up to her feet but the tribrid screams at the sight of Alexander, backing away until her back hits the wall.

"Get away from me! This is all your fault!" Hope cries, unable to even look at Alexander.

"H-Hope, what are you talking about? What did I do?"

"You could've prevented this." Hope coughs, slumping against the wall as she takes her last breath.

"No!" Alexander cries, cradling the tribrid into his arms and rocking them back and forth. Hope's blood leaks onto his hands and his uniform. The white button up is now almost completely red.

"I didn't kill them, I didn't kill them..." Alexander repeats to himself.

"You know all the spells. You grew up in a coven even though you were raised as a vampire." The night hag appears in front of him.

"You found out you're a tribrid yet you never use any magic. That's too bad. With or without magic, you are a danger to your friends and the people around you. People will die no matter what."

Alexander helps himself up to his feet, glaring at the night hag. "These are my friends! I protect them from dangerous threats, including you!" 

Alexander's eyes glow yellow with rage and his fingernails turn into claws. The tribrid swipes at the night hag but she disappears into a black smoke.

* * *

Alexander gasps awake, sitting up instantly. The tribrid feels like his heart is beating out his chest. He lets out an inaudible sigh of relief when he sees his peers safe and not bleeding out of their necks.

"Are we alive, dude? Did we win?"

"Hey, is everybody okay?"

"You see any dead dream demons laying around?"

"Guys, where the fuck is Hope?" Alexander rubs the sleep out of his eyes, not seeing his sister where she previously was..

Just in queue, the tribrid bursts through the doors fighting hand to hand with the dream demon.

Alexander almost steps in to intervene but Hope stops him.

"Stay back, I got this!" The demon wraps his hands around Hope's throat and the tribrid struggles for air.

Alaric steps in with a crossbow and tosses the arrow to the tribrid. "Hope, aim for the eyes!" 

The tribrid escapes the dream demon's grip and breaks the arrow in half, piercing both of his eyes. Like the night hag, the demon disappears into black smoke, and Hope sighs in relief, trying to catch her breath.

"Landon was right," Kaleb scoffs. "Sexy as hell."

"Dude, read the room." Alexander rolls his eyes, hitting Kaleb's shoulder playfully. 

* * *

Alexander walks to the bathroom to freshen up but he finds Rafael after the sleepover and stops him in the hallway.

"What's up, Alex? Good job tonight." The werewolf smiles.

"I've seen the way you were talking to Hope when Landon was gone." Alexander folds his arms across his chest, confronting the alpha with no hesitation. The tribrid was hoping he was just imagining things, but Alexander knows Landon would want the truth.

"Look, there's nothing between me and Hope. You're crazy, dude." Rafael tries to walk away from Alexander but he puts his arm out in front of his chest.

"You're the crazy one, some best friend you are." Alexander scoffs. For someone who preaches about loyalty and being Landon's best friend, Alexander sees right through the werewolf. 

"You wanna say that again?" Rafael raises an eyebrow. The alpha gets in Alexander's face, puffing his chest out.

"You heard about what I did to Jed. Do you want the same thing happening to you?" Alexander chuckles sarcastically. "You better get your priorities straight, Waithe. You don't scare me. If I see you talking to Hope like that ever again, I will be running straight to Landon. Because that's what a true friend would do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is probably one of my favorite chapters  
> thanks for reading! <3


	11. switched at birth

When Alexander got ready that day, he knew it wasn't going to be any normal day. His ears perk up at the sound of familiar voices and barge into the headmaster's office, gasping at the sight of Lizzie and Josie. Alaric is about to scold Alexander for barging in unannounced but the tribrid interrupts him.

"My favorite twins are back!" Alexander screams, wrapping them up in a bone-crushing hug.

"Can't breathe..." Josie huffs. She reaches her hand around Alexander and lightly taps him on the shoulder.

Lizzie grins from the affection, giving Alexander another hug after he lets them go.

"Why can't more people be like Alexander? This is how you greet us! I love this guy." Lizzie sighs happily, the tribrid brings her mood up in an instant.

"Why do you guys smell like sewer though?" Alexander scrunches his nose up, cursing his heightened senses. Most people probably wouldn't mention anything, but the tribrid valued honesty. Alexander was the type of guy to let you know you had broccoli stuck in your teeth or a booger dangling from your nose. If your breath smelled, he'd pass you a piece of gum.

Lizzie’s smile instantly turns upside down and Josie sniffs herself, her lips forming into a pout. The brunette siphoner didn't think she smelled that bad but she did accumulate a good amount of sweat on the shuttle ride.

"Instead of being welcomed at the airport, Josie and I were forced to take a three-hour shuttle ride that smelled like an open sewer... and feet!" Lizzie shouts frustratingly.

"Thanks a lot, Hope. Way to ruin life for the rest of us." The blonde twin storms off to leave everyone else in the office glancing at each other awkwardly.

"Was it something I said?" Alexander frowns.

* * *

The tribrid waits impatiently in Dr. Saltzman's office with Alaric and Emma looking at him after the twins leave to get ready.

"I know you didn’t wait for your daughters to leave so we could have a staring contest.” Alexander pulls Dr. Saltzman from staring into space.

”My apologies. I was just gathering my thoughts.” Dr. Saltzman clears his throat.

”Dr. Saltzman, you’re freaking me out.” Hope shifts uncomfortably in her seat next to Alexander.

"The truth is, we've been hiding something from you Hope."

"That's impossible. I basically know everything that goes on within the walls of this school."

Alaric chuckles at Hope's reaction, sitting up taller in his seat. "I used to think that too. But you'll have to prepare yourself for what I'm going to tell you."

"Just tell me!" Alaric looks at Emma for assistance and the counselor rolls her eyes.

"When we tested Alexander's magical lineage, we found out that Alexander does not only have the capabilities of a vampire and a werewolf, but also a... witch."

"Why are we telling Hope this?" Alexander frowns, folding his arms across his chest. The tribrid fears of people thinking about him differently. He already started becoming friends with the other students in the school and he didn't want their feelings to change about him. Hope's mouth hangs open in shock, wondering why Alexander would keep it a secret from her.

"Remember when I told you to be patient and trust the process? That process is over." Emma chuckles.

"But if Alexander is a tribrid... then that means..."

"Are you saying we're..."

"We also had your blood drawn and we submitted it for a paternity test," Emma explains. "Hope, Alexander is your identical twin brother."

Hope's eyes widen at the newfound information, looking at the tribrid next to her. "I'm sorry, but I think I would've remembered growing up with a brother." Hope shakes her head in disbelief. Her mom wrote her letters since before she was born and there was no mentioning of a sibling or twin.

"I feel like I'm on the Maury show right now." Alexander stands up from his chair and begins slow clapping. "This has been really fun you guys, I had a blast. I get it, I'm Truman. You can stop the cameras now." Alexander moves toward the door but Emma blocks his path.

"You mean to tell me, I shared a womb with this guy?"

"Yes, I do believe that's what identical twins mean." Alexander clears his throat, the corners of his lips curling into a small smile. Alexander copes through humor, even in the most inappropriate of situations.

"I'm going to murder him." The tribrid can't believe she's related to the self-proclaimed comedian. The two are nothing alike.

"We will be doing no murdering in this school!"

Hope rolls her eyes and stands in front of Alexander. "Take off your shirt." Hope demands.

"Ew, gross! You find out we're twins and five minutes later you're already stripping me down? Was I born in Alabama?"

"Louisiana. New Orleans to be exact. Our family comes from a pack of werewolves, also known as the Crescent Wolf pack. We're all born with a crescent-shaped mark on our shoulder."

Alexander looks at Alaric and Emma who seem to be just as baffled as Hope. The tribrid sighs in defeat before pulling his shirt above his head and turns his back towards Hope.

Hope almost chokes on her spit when she sees the familiar crest on Alexander's right shoulder.

"How come I've never seen you perform magic?" Hope asks Alexander.

Alexander shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know. I seemed to do just fine on my own without magic." 

Hope turns around to face Alaric with a grim look on her face. "How are we going to tell other people? We can't just announce another tribrid into existence out of nowhere."

Alaric sighs, throwing his hands up in the air. The headmaster had already dealt with enough, adding another tribrid into the mix wasn't surprising at all. The hunter has seen too many things in his life. He's rarely surprised nowadays.

”Students will see you two hanging out more often, let them think whatever they want. Alexander will probably be seen more in the witch classes now.”

”If you don't have any more questions, I recommend you bond with your new twin.” Emma chuckles at the two siblings. It's not every day you get to see twins get reunited.

The counselor pushes both of them out of the office and closes the door in their faces.

”Are they going to rip each other’s heads off?” Alaric rubs at his temples, the wrinkles on his face growing more prominent.

”No!” Emma shakes her head. “They are Mikaelson twins. Their father was the original hybrid and their mother was alpha of the crescent moon pack. Can’t forget to mention their grandmother was probably the most powerful witch to ever exist. Everything is going to be just fine.” Emma doesn't know who she's trying to convince: Alaric or herself.

* * *

The two sit awkwardly across from each other at the Mystic Grill. Alexander looks down at his hands, fiddling with the rings on his fingers. Hope does the exact same thing, pressing her lips together as she decides what to say to Alexander.

"So do you-" They both ask at the same time.

"You go first," Alexander chuckles.

"How are you liking the school?" Hope asks. Alexander transferred to the school a few weeks ago and had finally gotten used to his schedule. He still discovers new things and the history behind the school every day.

"Well, it's school. So you know..." Alexander shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, it's not a normal school. But I like it." 

"I'm glad. We didn't really have a monster problem until you, Landon, and Rafael showed up." 

"That's comforting to know." Alexander drums his fingers against the table, not really knowing what to say to his newfound sister. The tribrid wanted to ask so many questions, but he didn't know what was a hard spot for the auburn-haired girl. 

A waitress walks up to the two of them to take their order and both of them order at the same time.

"Peanut butter milkshake with whipped cream on the bottom-" The twins share the same crazy look in their eyes and Alexander clears his throat.

"Make that two please," Hope asks the waitress. 

The auburn-haired girl waits for the waitress to be far away enough before speaking again in a hushed tone.

"You're really creeping me out here!"

"Oh, _I'm_ creeping you out?" Alexander whispers back. "Why are we whispering?"

The waitress comes back with both of their milkshakes and the two siblings thank her quietly.

"This is obviously going nowhere. I'll be going back to school. You know, the place where I won't be wasting my time." The tribrid stands up with his milkshake in hand.

"Alex, sit down." Hope sighs, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry. I just found out I had a brother an hour ago. Forgive me if I seem a little frazzled." 

Alexander sits back down in the chair and takes a sip out of his milkshake. 

"Actually... I think you were onto something. Let's head back to school." Hope scoots her chair back and grabs Alexander by his arm.

* * *

"Wow, I've never been in your room before." Little fairy lights twinkle above her bed and a corkboard filled with pictures of her friends. Alexander sets his milkshake down on her dresser and looks at the framed photo of Hope with who he assumes are other family members.

"The story behind our birth is really funny." Hope chuckles at the photo. She pats the spot next to her on the bed and Alexander shuffles over, sitting with his legs crisscrossed.

"Our parents were a one night stand. They never liked each other that much. Our dad is the original hybrid and our mom was a werewolf. I like to call us magical loopholes." 

"Wow, we were doomed from the start."

"The blonde is our aunt Rebekah but she liked to be called Auntie Bex." Hope points at her. "She took care of me for a while when my parents couldn't. They weren't neglectful or anything, they just had a lot on their plate."

"The other guy is Uncle Elijah. He was really nice and proper. I don't know how he wore a suit every single day. I don't I've never seen him in a pair of jeans." Hope laughs.

Alexander watches Hope fawn over the nostalgia. The tribrid can tell she avoids talking about their family a lot, but she looks happy to share the memories with someone else for once. Hope grabs the other picture frame off of her nightstand and hands it to Alexander. He recognizes their parents, Rebekah, and Elijah, but there are more people.

"Damn, we have a lot of relatives." Alexander counts nine people in the photo, not including Hope.

"The other blonde is Aunt Freya with Aunt Keelin. The one standing behind Auntie Bex is Marcel. Technically, he's my brother, but he's married to Auntie Bex. Now that I say it out loud, it sounds kind of weird."

"And you said we weren't from Alabama." Alexander scoffs. 

"The one on the far right is Uncle Kol with his wife Davina. They live in San Francisco together. He's supposed to be the mischievous one. You actually remind me a lot of him."

"I've already read about what happened with... Hayley and Klaus." Alexander doesn't feel comfortable referring to them as his parents. He's never met them and he doesn't want to take that title away from Hope. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for the pain you endured. Nobody should have to go through that." Alexander frowns, feeling guilty for the tribrid.

Hope's eyes become watery and the tribrid wipes her eyes before any tears could escape, sniffling quietly.

"Hope, are you crying?"

Instead of answering him, Hope throws her arms around Alexander, hiding her face into his shoulder. Alexander freezes, not really used to the affection. He returns the embrace, rubbing Hope's back comfortingly.

"Now, you've had your first hug from a family member." Hope laughs as she pulls away.

"You're so mean!" Alexander gasps, hitting Hope with one of her pillows. Alexander fights the urge to start bawling in front of his new sibling, assaulting her with the fluffy pillow.

Hope shrieks at the attack and retaliates, a full-blown pillow fight breaking out in her room. Maybe the tribrid won't admit it out loud, but he's glad he finally gets to call someone family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prime numbers freak me out  
> thank u for reading! <3


	12. spring breakers

Feathers fly around the dorm room and Alexander almost gets the wind knocked out of him by Hope. The two fall back onto the bed, bursting out into a fit of giggles. Alexander tries to catch his breath, his arm resting on his forehead.

"Wait, this makes so much sense! When you did black magic with Josie, I puked out this black goo. It looked like black slime."

"We have it too? I thought it only happened to them because they were from the Gemini Coven." Hope frowns.

"The next time I do black magic, I'll let you know." Alexander snorts.

The two sit in a comfortable silence until it gets broken by Hope.

"So, do you have your eyes on anyone?" Hope asks Alexander, her eyebrows wiggling up and down suggestively.

Alexander gasps, smacking Hope on her knee lightly. "You only want to hang out with me for tea. I'm offended, Hope Mikaelson."

"You can tell me! From one twin to another." Hope nudges his shoulder playfully. 

"I'm not telling you anything." Alexander shakes his head, gulping down the rest of his milkshake.

"Pretty please? With a cherry on top?"

"I'm not going to lie. Everyone in this school is somewhat attractive. Would I date any of them? Who knows?" Alexander doesn't technically answer Hope's question, suspense lingering in the air.

"You're so boring." 

"You're the one who asked!" 

Hope rolls her eyes, maneuvering herself so she's under her blankets. "Then tell me who you would like to date or see yourself dating or something."

"Sweet, sweet, selfless Hope. If I tell you, I'm just going to wake up blindfolded and you'll drag me to some blind date."

"No, I won't. Unlike some people, I believe in consent, Alex."

Alexander lays on his side, playing with a loose string from Hope's comforter. "I mean, Josie is kind of cute..." Alexander shrugs, afraid to make eye contact with his sister.

"Josie?!" Hope's eyes widen. The tribrid feels a pang of jealousy in her chest but she reminds herself she's with Landon. Cute, funny, and nice Landon, who really likes her.

Alexander blinks slowly at his sister from her reaction, pressing his lips together in a firm line.

"Can you say it any louder? I don't think the whole school heard you!" 

"I'm sorry, I just didn't think Josie was your type. I honestly thought you would've preferred Lizzie."

"MG is my friend, I'm not a homewrecker." Alexander chuckles. "Even if I asked Josie out, I don't think she would say yes. A witch like Penelope Park is hard to forget."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Penelope Park seems cool. I think she means well. She could do without the fat-shaming part." Alexander scrunches his face up.

Alexander looks over at the time on his watch, seeing how the day is already over. "Is it okay if I sleepover? My room is too far."

"You literally sleep down the hall."

"Your point is?"

"Fine, but if you start snoring or sleepwalking, I'm kicking you out."

* * *

Following the school talent show, Alexander spent most of the night in the shower, trying to make sure he got all the slug juice out of his body. 

Most of the students are leaving campus for spring break and Alexander planned on taking a little vacation by himself before he gets the announcement from Dr. Saltzman that all students aren't allowed to leave campus without a parent or guardian.

After the assembly, Alexander walks up to talk to Alaric about leaving campus but Kaleb stops him.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I'm going on a sort of trip with Dr. Saltzman to look for the urn. Can you look after MG? Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I already asked Rafael but you're my backup plan. Rafael can be reckless when it comes to the people he cares about."

"Wow, Kaleb, I'm flattered." Alexander places his hands on his chest, smiling at the vampire. He puts one hand on his shoulder, looking into Kaleb's eyes. "You can trust me, my friend."

"You're so weird." Kaleb shakes his head, chuckling at the tribrid. They do a little handshake and after everyone leaves campus. MG gets Landon, Rafael, and Alexander around for a game of trivia. 

While MG sets up the questions, Alexander pulls out the chalkboard for them to keep score on. Alexander has never played trivia before but at least he's putting in an effort, unlike Landon and Rafael. The vampire has been upset lately after finding out he's a ripper, Alexander likes seeing him somewhat back to normal, even if he's pretending.

"Survey says -- you just got owned!" MG rings the little bell they had prepared. "Don't be mad. This stuff is in my blood. My dad's a trivia god. We play games like this all the time." MG's smile quickly turns into a frown as he reminisces on old memories.

"Well, uh, we used to. You know, before the-"

"Wait, so let me get this straight." Landon sits up from the couch. "You died and then became a vampire, and then your dad just ... ghosted you?"

While Landon is talking, Alexander stands behind MG, making all kinds of gestures for him to stop talking.

"Pretty much." MG shrugs, not noticing the tribrid behind him. The vampire even sounds sadder as he thinks about his family. "I hear from my mom all the time, and she just says, like, he's busy. Um, either way, we don't talk."

"Well, maybe you should." Landon encourages the vampire. 

"Or maybe some things are better left unsaid, right, Lan?"

"Sure. But, I mean, the whole point of having a family is so you can be an actual family. Talk about stuff." 

Rafael sighs at his best friend, taking a seat back on the couch with his head in his hands. Based on Landon's tone, the werewolf already knew that once the curly-haired boy made his mind up, there was no going back.

"I agree with Rafael. Landon, this is MG's family, you can't be telling him what to do. Not all families are the same."

"Look, all I'm trying to say is if you want answers, I hope you get them. Because I would do anything to avoid another round of Faction Feud."

"Dude, not cool." Alexander frowns. "We're supernaturals. I'm pretty sure we're all cursed. Not a single person in this room probably has a good relationship with their families. That's why we stick with each other."

"Of all people, MG deserves to at least have a talk with his parents. We'll be back before the sun sets so Rafael can transform. It'll be fine."

MG looks at Landon anxiously but nods his head. Alexander curses under his breath, Kaleb's words repeating in his head. _I think this counts as something stupid._

The four of them all sneak out of the school successively without getting caught with the help of Penelope Park. Fortunately, MG grew up in the area so they didn't have to drive far. Landon and Rafael break into a car to drive to the Greasley's estate.

"For the record, I didn't know that grand theft auto was a part of the plan." MG hides under his hoodie, shielding his face from others.

"No, it's not stealing if you return it." Landon defends himself.

"I think someone can tell if their car is missing." Alexander scoffs.

"Then you can compel them that their car was never gone in the first place!" Rafael throws his hands up in the air.

"You got some vicious street gangs around here." Landon jokes, watching MG hide from the innocent people walking by them.

"Why do you think we parked in an alleyway? Everyone thinks I'm dead. I can't be seen here."

"You never mentioned your dad was a politician." A sign sits in their front lawn of MG's dad running for mayor. "The last time I checked he wasn't." MG corrects himself.

"Maybe Raf and Alex were right -- maybe this was a mistake." MG hesitates a few steps in front of the house. 

"No, the truth is never make a mistake." Landon walks up to the front door confidently and Alexander rolls his eyes.

"Landon, I love you, but you're annoying now. You're usually all dorky and short. Let's go back to that Landon." The tribrid tries to reason with him before something bad happens. 

"This is going to be a good thing. Trust me." Landon takes in a deep breath before knocking on the door.

A middle-aged woman answers the door with curly hair and red lips. She wears a fancy suit and Alexander can tell she looks like she has her life together.

"I'm sorry, who are you, and why are you here?"

The three of them stand in front of the vampire and MG takes off his sunglasses, revealing himself to his mother.

"Hi, Mom." MG smiles.

"Milton. I wasn't expecting you."

"It's spring break."

"Yes, I know. But I thought we agreed it would be best for you to stay on campus."

"Best for MG or best for you?" Alexander stands up for his friend, becoming angered by the way she treats her son.

Landon pushes him back a little bit, clearing his throat. "Uh, Mrs. Greasley, hi. I'm Landon Kirby. My brother Rafael and I, we're new at this school, and-and we didn't really have anywhere else to go for spring break, so we sort of, uh, talked your son into a spontaneous road trip."

MG's mother folds her arms across her chest, flaring her nostrils angrily. Alexander scoffs, rubbing the back of his neck.

"This is all just perfect. I tried to tell them not to, but no, nobody wants to listen to Alexander!"

"It seems now like it may have been a hasty decision." Landon feels embarrassed his whole plan didn't work out, wanting to dig himself a hole and never get out of.

Alexander gets tired of the three and returns back to the car they left in the alleyway. The tribrid can't stand to watch Landon help MG get his heartbroken all over again.

A few minutes later, the three of them return to the car and MG gets in the backseat next to Alexander. By the glum look on MG's face and how fast they returned, Alexander can only assume the talk didn't end as they had hoped for.

"It's gonna be okay, MG. You don't need them." Alexander smiles reassuringly.

MG nods his head, unable to face the tribrid. Instead, he rolls down the window, listening to Rafael and Landon talking outside of the car.

"Hey, Rafael and Alexander are right, it is what it is."

"It is what it is?" Landon sputters. "Or maybe it's worse." Landon hands MG a folded newspaper, pointing at the cover. "I took it out of your parents' mailbox. Your dad became a prominent figure after he gave a sermon that went viral. A sermon about how he would give anything to have you back. It is one thing to cut you out of his life. It is another thing to use your memory to get votes."

MG's dad is on the cover of the newspaper. In the picture, his dad is smiling in a suit. The title reads: _Mayoral Candidate Terrance Greasley Will Speak At Church_.

Rafael grunts, grabbing the newspaper from MG's hands. "We can come back another time. It's only a couple hours until moonrise."

"We can do both!" Landon exclaims.

"The hell we're not! I am not going to let your dumbass emo self let us jeopardize the lives of innocent people. Rafael needs to go back to the school where he can peacefully break all of the bones in his body."

Landon turns to MG to convince the vampire. "Your did is giving another speech tonight and it's on the way home."

"Landon, you have to stop pushing," Rafael begs his best friend.

"Please, Landon. Going back to MG's house was already a risk enough. It's a sign we should go back to school."

MG frowns in thought, shaking his head. "Landon, I don't know if I-"

"I would give anything to ask my mom and dad why they gave me up. You actually have a chance to."

"Are you listening to yourself right now?!" Alexander laughs in disbelief. "Nobody asked you! Now let's all get in the car and I'll pull a Tokyo Drift right now."

The tribrid throws his head back when Landon gets behind the wheel again, clenching his eyes shut in frustration.

"Oh, God bless us all."

* * *

The four of them stand in the church where MG's father practices his speech. He sounds nice, but Alexander still doesn't trust him. 

"What are you waiting for?" Landon asks the vampire.

"For starters, I can't feel my legs."

"Hello? Is anyone there?" MG's father calls out after hearing voices that don't belong to him inside the church.

The vampire steps out and introduces himself, reuniting with his father. The three all stand by the door, unrecognizable, enjoying seeing MG happy with his father.

Both Rafael and Landon leave while Alexander stays in the church. He sits at the steps near the entrance, counting the number of people that pass by. The tribrid grows concerned when he notices the sun setting and MG is still talking with his father. 

Alexander bites his lip, tapping his foot impatiently. He doesn't want to interrupt the moment they're having but he also doesn't want to be responsible if Rafael ends up killing someone. The tribrid jumps up to his feet when he hears yelling coming from the inside and storms inside the building.

"MG, what's happening?"

MG's father shouts about the vampire being a demon, a prayer falling from his lips. Alexander sighs, the smell of blood coming to his nostrils.

"It's fine, Alex. I have everything handled." MG sniffles. 

"I'm sorry, MG. But we have to get going soon if we're going to make it back to school on time."

MG nods his head sadly, putting one hand on his father's shoulder. "You didn't see me here today, but always believe that you're gonna see the boy that you love again."

The vampire quickly speeds out of the church with tears running down his face, followed by Alexander.

* * *

The two finally find Rafael and Landon again in the woods. The alpha is chained poorly to a tree and Landon holds up a stick to protect himself.

"A stick, Landon? Really?" Alexander laughs at the curly-haired boy.

"You can't scare us like that!" Landon whines, dropping the stick from his hands. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to get your panties in a twist." Alexander raises his hands up in defense.

"MG, you can't be here. I'm about to turn. It's not safe!" Rafael grunts, struggling against the chains.

"For Landon. Because I'm about to kick his ass."

"What? Why?" Landon asks, his voice cracking due to fear.

"Okay now, big guy. Let's all just take a minute and talk things through. We don't need to be throwing hands all willy nilly."

MG pushes Landon to the ground with brute force, angrily pointing a finger at him.

"You made me come here. You rang that doorbell. You showed me that paper. And you put all your crap on me." MG cries. The vampire's feelings are much more intense. The emotions running through his mind block out any conscience telling him to back off.

"MG, I'm sorry. What happened-"

"Alexander! Get me out of these chains!"

"If I let you out, you'll hurt MG!" Alexander shouts.

"If I'm stuck to this tree, Landon will die!" 

Some of the blood from Landon's mouth lands on MG's hand, causing the vampire's fangs to come out.

"MG, please. You can control this. We believe in you." Alexander takes careful steps toward the vampire.

"You don't understand. I don't have anything left to fight for." MG cries. Despite the ongoing battle in his mind, every muscle in his body is telling him to feed on the human standing in front of him.

The vampire attacks Landon's neck and Alexander gasps. His feet feel frozen to the floor, unable to move. He's never seen MG in such a state.

Rafael screams, watching his best friend killed in front of him. He falls to his feet, several bones in his body cracking in transformation.

Alexander jumps on top of the vampire, pushing him off of Landon. The curly-haired boy falls to the ground, all life drained from his face. The tribrid is too paralyzed in shock to react, looking at all of the blood around Landon's neck. 

"Landon? Come on, get up." Alexander bites his wrist, attempting to give Landon some of his blood. He doesn't know if it works, but Landon is still on the ground.

Rafael finally transforms into a werewolf and escapes his restraints. He doesn't hesitate to attack MG behind Alexander. The alpha scurries away after biting the vampire and Alexander runs to MG's side. He tries giving the vampire some of his blood, but MG keeps pushing him away.

"Why are you giving me your blood, Alex? You're not a tribrid."

"Surprise?"

Get out of here, Alexander. I'm a monster! I deserve to die." MG cries in frustration. He feels everything and the guilt from killing and betraying his friends comes washing over him.

"Please, MG. You have to take my blood. Think about Kaleb and Lizzie. Imagine Lizzie at your funeral." Alexander breathes heavily, trying to calm down the vampire. Some of Alexander's blood still drips from his wrist and the vampire reluctantly drinks it. 

After MG finishes drinking, Alexander starts to feel himself becoming weak, too weak to get up again. He lays down next to MG, coughing into his hand. Alexander's skin begins to turn pale, his veins much more prominent and sticking out. The tribrid wheezes, his eyes slowly closing and his breaths becoming more shallow. The vampire finally heals from the werewolf bite and looks over at Alexander.

"Alex? Come on man, I can't lose you too." MG whimpers. The vampire's chest becomes heavy again when he realizes he hurt another one of his friends. He tries shaking the tribrid, but he doesn't budge. His eyes shift between Landon and Alexander, more tears falling down his face.

He brings his knees up to his chest, rocking himself back and forth. "What have I done?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3


	13. toddlers & tiaras

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whenever i think of the mikaelson twins ayesha erotica and the neighbourhood pop into my head it's so funny

Alexander gasps awake, instantly sitting up. He looks up to see Hope looking at him with a worried expression. Her cheeks are wet with tear stains. Everything comes flooding back to Alexander. He looks over to see Landon in the same position he last remembered and Rafael back in his human form.

"Fuck..." Alexander buries his face in his hands. Hope starts crying next to Landon and Rafael crouches next to him with a melancholic expression.

"Is MG okay?" Alexander frowns, looking around for the vampire who's nowhere in sight.

Rafael jumps onto Alexander's chest, throwing punches all over him. "You were supposed to unchain me!" He roars with anger. "Why didn't you stop him?! You were supposed to stop him!" 

Alexander doesn't even fight back, taking each and every hit Rafael throws at him. Both Kaleb and Alaric have to pull the werewolf off of him.

"Look, he doesn't even feel sorry for what he did!"

"Of course, I feel sorry! Landon was my friend too!" Alexander shouts.

"Stop arguing!" Hope screams at the two. "Landon wouldn't want you to fight! Can we all just respect that?"

"Uh, am I still delusional or do y'all see this?"

Smoke begins coming out of Landon's body and Alexander furrows his eyebrows together in confusion. He doesn't see any flames around the curly-haired boy, how is he burning up? Hope casts an extinguishing spell, but nothing changes.

A few seconds later, Landon bursts into flames, earning a horrifying look coming from both Alexander and Hope. Eventually, the boy is just a pile of ash. 

Hope tries to run to Landon but Alexander holds her back. The pile of ash begins to crack and start moving. Landon climbs out almost as if nothing happened.

"Nope, I'm going home. I can't do this anymore." Alexander shakes his head, walking to the van Alaric brought with him.

* * *

It feels weird returning back to the school. Alexander feels like he was asleep for at least a year. The school is still crazy as usual. Students now run around, trying to prepare for the forgotten Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. Alexander helps do some of the heavy lifting while Lizzie controls everyone like they are her personal slaves. The tribrid doesn't mind though, as long as it keeps him busy to distract him from previous events.

Everyone says they're not angry at Alexander which he is thankful for but the tribrid is guilty. Being an all-powerful supernatural being, Alexander should've been able to save them all. They didn't need to go through all that trouble if Alexander was strong enough in the first place. 

Alexander helps move some of the tables out of the lobby to make room for the contestants but when Alexander places the table down, he uses a bit too much force all of the table legs break. Lizzie squeaks in surprise, her eyes widening at the tribrid.

"Are you sure you're okay, Alex?"

"Yep, doing just dandy." 

"Have you had blood yet today?" Lizzie frowns. The reason Alexander passed out back in the forest was that he didn't consume any blood for a while. MG being a ripper and all almost drained all of the blood left in Alexander's body until he looked like Flat Stanley.

"Yes, I have. Thank you for asking." Alexander grunts, never wanting to make the same mistake ever again.

"Just go help unload all of the exotic animals, I'm running out of tables." The blonde rolls her eyes. She understood Alexander not wanting to talk about it, he was a Mikaelson after all, but that didn't mean he had to take out his frustrations on the blonde siphoner. When he showed up in her chemistry of magic class, Lizzie mentally cursed Klaus Mikaelson and his little swimmers.

Alexander freezes when he steps through the doorway, seeing both Hope and Landon together. He's about to turn around and walk away until he hears Hope's voice.

"Alex? Did Lizzie send you here?"

"Uh, yeah." The tribrid rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Apparently, I keep breaking the furniture." 

Both Hope and Landon expressed that they didn't blame Alexander for what happened, but that didn't mean the tribrid didn't feel bad about it. The night hag's words replayed in his head. If he practiced magic then maybe he could've saved MG or protected Landon. Alexander doesn't even want to think about what might've happened if Landon wasn't a phoenix.

Hope hands a clipboard over to Alexander along with a pen. "Just keep an inventory of all the animals we have here."

Alexander almost bumps into a handsome guy with curly blonde hair and quickly sneaks up behind Hope. "Who is this gorgeous man that I need to take a bite of?" 

"That's Roman, my ex-boyfriend."

Alexander's smirk quickly turns into one of a frown. He slumps his shoulders forward, resting his chin on Hope's shoulder. "I am destined to be alone."

Roman walks over to the three of them, greeting Hope politely. "Dr. Saltzman's been a little overwhelmed, so I've been doing a little recruiting recon for him lately. But he asked me to come in today and lend a hand."

Alexander notices the way Roman looks at Hope up and down before looking at Landon behind her. 

"Oh, this is Landon and my estranged twin brother, Alexander."

"I'm her boyfriend." Landon folds his arms across his chest in an attempt to seem cool and intimidating. "I'm a phoenix, by the way. Super rare."

Roman's eyes flicker back and forth between the three of them, clicking his tongue. "I better go find Dr. Saltzman." Roman excuses himself from the awkward trio.

Hope turns around to face the phoenix with a glint of amusement in her eyes. "That was very alpha male of you."

"Yeah, it was disgusting." Alexander snorts. For a second, Alexander wonders if his sister downgraded when she chose Landon until he hears the story behind the reason they broke up. The tribrid leaves the couple alone and walks over to the Ravens, counting each and every one. 

* * *

Alexander furrows his eyebrows when he finds himself being pushed into the sectioned off area by the blonde siphoner. 

"Dude! I was in the middle of counting all the rats." Alexander huffs, hugging the clipboard his chest. He glances at all the other females in the room in confusion.

"I'm all about feminism, but it feels like I'm playing a game of what doesn't belong here."

Lizzie slides the doors closed behind him with a gloomy look on her face. "I am withdrawing from Miss Mystic Falls. Effective immediately."

"Wow, and I thought you had something important to tell us." Hope rolls her eyes, taking a seat in a nearby chair.

"Come for the underwhelming announcement, stay for the epic meltdown." Penelope finds pleasure in seeing the blonde distressed.

"Why are you quitting?" Josie asks. Alexander has seen Josie running around the school all day. He would hate to see her working so hard for nothing in return.

"A personal issue with one of the judges." Lizzie answers. "A direct result of that bitch Dana's sabotage."

"She's dead, Lizzie!" Hope scolds, somewhat not surprised by Lizzie's lack of sympathy.

"Correction, that dead bitch Dana's sabotage. Even from the grave she still finds a way to take my crown." Lizzie huffs. "The head judge is her mother. There is always next year. But that does not mean that we here at the Salvatore School shouldn't bring home the title and stick it to those townies." Lizzie declares with vengeance.

"I have studied all there is to know about Miss Mystic Falls and I have chosen a replacement. _Hope Mikaelson_."

Alexander felt dumb for believing Lizzie might actually choose her sister for once but maybe the siphoner truly is blind. Alexander rolls his eyes, tapping his clipboard. Not wanting to stay for the underlying tension in the room, the tribrid excuses himself out. He already had his own problems to worry about than a beauty pageant.

"Thank you for the wonderful waste of time, but I have rats waiting for me."

* * *

Alexander finishes taking inventory and heads back to the lobby where the pageant contestants are rehearsing. The tribrid has to peel his eyes away from his sister. Watching Hope and Landon dancing together out of sync with everyone is painful enough, he would rather listen to nails on a chalkboard.

The couple eventually falls into an argument which isn't surprising for Alexander until he can feel the ground beneath him start vibrating. Alexander walks over to his sister but Lizzie pulls Hope away in time, leaving him with the phoenix.

Alexander opens his mouth to say something but Landon beats him to it. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Funny how you're allowed to say it but Hope can't." Alexander has to press his lips together from laughing at his own comment.

"Dude." Landon wonders how the tribrid can be so opinionated. Alexander always has something to say in any given moment.

Alexander raises his hands up in defense, chuckling at the phoenix. "Not my problem if you can't handle the truth, bird boy. The problem with you Landon is you are incapable of being empathetic."

"What are you talking about? Hope and I are really similar in a lot of ways."

Alexander rolls his eyes, marveling at how his sister is so patient with the curly-haired boy. "Gosh, do you always talk out of your ass? Stop thinking about what you want and put yourself in Hope's brain for a second. The way Hope still drags you around is something so astounding to me. My sister will crawl to the ends of the earth for you and you can't even give her the time of day. Hope just saw you die. Or at least she thought you died. You can't just expect her to pour her feelings out like a waterfall. She'll talk to you when she's ready. Forcing her to talk will only push her away farther. Seeing how she's nowhere to be found, you're doing a great job at it. Keep up the great work, sport." Alexander jabs at his chest infuriated by the curly-haired boy.

"Now what you're going to do is put your big boy pants on and apologize to my sister." Alexander doesn't even care if Landon is offended by his words. The tribrid wants the best for his sister and if Landon isn't it, he won't be afraid to call the boy out.

After the two decide it's been long enough, they go searching for Hope who's talking to Lizzie in a secluded area. Both Hope and Lizzie stop walking at the sight of the two. Hope's face is filled with disappointment. Alexander pushes Landon in front of his sister and almost falls over from his hands tucked inside of his pockets.

Alexander hums in content when Landon apologizes to Hope. The four of them make a discovery of MG's mom as a statue and alert both Dr. Saltzman and the vampire. They all discuss theories or reasoning as to why MG's mom would be a statue and Lizzie accuses Landon.

"Unless this sentient jar of artisanal mayonnaise activated a new artifact. What did you touch?"

"Everything. We cleaned the school from top to bottom, remember? But if we're just gonna throw out wild theories, here's one: what if the person who did this showed up today, out of nowhere, acting all buddy-buddy, manipulating romantic feelings to let someone's guard down?" Landon rambles specifically.

"Do you seriously suspect Roman?" Hope folds her arms across her chest. The tribrid can't believe she calls the phoenix her boyfriend or trusting him when he apologized earlier.

Alexander slaps his hand against his forehead, tired of the phoenix's antics. He really wasted his time trying to knock some sense into Landon. The boy was a lost cause.

"We all should. The timing is too convenient."

"I thought you were sorry for acting jealous."

"I was sorry, but now I'm vindicated."

"Lizzie, Hope, you keep an eye on the statue. MG, we're gonna search the campus. Landon-"

"I'm gonna go ask Roman some questions." Landon interrupts Dr. Saltzman, already walking away from the group.

"Real helpful. Ask a vampire how he turned a woman to stone." Hope spits at her boyfriend.

Alexander never regretted accepting admission into the school until now. He reluctantly follows behind Landon, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I don't need you following me around, Alex. I'm just fine on my own."

"Based on today, you've constantly proved that you're not and need a babysitter." The tribrid tries grabbing Landon by the shoulder but the phoenix shakes him off.

Alexander tries grabbing Landon again but the phoenix already runs into Roman, grabbing the vampire's attention.

"Can I help you guys with anything?"

"We just wanting to ask you about a few things." Landon motions to walk with the vampire and Roman complies nicely.

"So this has got to be weird for you. Lots of emotions coming up, been a while since you've seen Hope."

"I thought we were supposed to be looking for the boulder bandit."' Roman answers. Landon's intentions are crystal clear to the vampire, knowing his real reason for talking to him.

"Yeah, about that. Are you sure I'm not looking at him?" Landon accuses the vampire. 

The three of them all stop walking and Alexander pinches the bridge of his nose in second-hand embarrassment for the phoenix.

Roman scoffs at Landon, his eyebrows scrunched together, annoyed at Landon. "Uh, yeah. You solved the case, Sherlock. I'm gonna turn the entire school to stone, steal a horse from the stable, and Hope and I are gonna ride off into the sunset." Sarcasm drips from Roman's voice. "Stop beating around the bush. Ask me what you really want to know."

Alexander admires Roman's courage although it doesn't take much to talk back to the phoenix. He isn't as intimidating as he would like to be.

"Do I still have feelings for Hope?" Roman asks for Landon. "Yes, of course, I do, and I always will, but she would never get back with me. And, look, you don't have to trust me on this, but you should definitely trust her. Tell your Watson to do a better job." Roman walks away from the two and Alexander flicks him off behind his back.

"I didn't think you were attractive anyways!"

* * *

Alexander went to get ready for the pageant and wore a tailored tuxedo with silver cuff links. The tribrid felt confident with his hair pushed back. He does finger guns in the mirror before leaving for the lobby. He sees Hope and Landon standing at the top of the staircase. Before his sister's name is called, Landon walks away from the tribrid and Alexander rolls his eyes. He's about to step in for his sister but Roman beats him to it. The tribrid decides not to chase after the phoenix, hitting his maximum limit for scolding his peers.

Alexander admires the blue ethereal dress on Hope, still not used to seeing his sister more dressed up. The last time he saw his sister in a dress was during the twins' birthday party. He watches her descend the staircase with the vampire and stands next to Lizzie. 

"Congratulations for putting this whole thing together. You really do have a knack for bossing people around."

"I'm just going to take that as a compliment and smile at you." Lizzie sighs, not taking her eyes off of the tribrid in the middle of the dance floor.

Josie walks up to both of them and the tribrid couldn't tell if the siphoner was upset or angry based on her facial expressions.

"You okay, Jo?"

"Where have you been? They're about to announce the winners." Lizzie frowns at her sister's lack of punctuality.

"I was getting the note that Penelope wrote to me. She's leaving the school."

Alexander already knew of the information. Penelope said goodbye to the tribrid a few days ago despite the two not really knowing each other that well. The tribrid didn't say anything to the brunette siphoner because he thought she would have been the first to know from Penelope. Alexander's eyebrows raise in suspicion when Lizzie admits to already knowing she was leaving.

"Okay, I don't know much about sibling code since I just found out I'm a Mikaelson, but how could you keep that from Josie?" Alexander sighs in disappointment at the blonde.

The twins widen their eyes at Alexander and the tribrid shakes his head. "Don't give me that look, one problem at a time. You know how much Josie cares about Penelope. She could've at least spent the week saying goodbye."

"I did not come here to be attacked." Lizzie rolls her eyes at the two ganging up on her. "You should be happy that the she-devil is finally gone forever." Lizzie scoffs insensitively to her sister's feelings.

"I can't believe this. She's been telling me all along, but I could never hear it." Josie's lips curl into a frown in realization. "You never consider anybody's feelings but your own." Josie raises her voice causing other people to stare at the siblings.

"What? That isn't fair."

"Isn't it? It's bad enough that you didn't think I'd want to enter, but not a single part of you thought that I could even win."

"Jo, I'm not a mind reader, okay? If you wanted to win-"

"Of course I wanted to win. But the second you dropped out, you gifted your entire plan to Hope."

"Because of science!" Lizzie tries to defend herself.

"Lizzie, listen to yourself. Science? What about your sister's feelings? Do you know how good it would feel to actually be competing? In Mom's dress? Did you even consider how Hope would feel wearing it?"

"She looks fantastic. She should feel amazing."

"Will she still feel amazing when she learns where it came from?"

"What do you mean, where it came from?"

"It was a gift from some guy who used to crush on Mom." Lizzie huffs, not seeing the importance of the dress.

"From Klaus Mikaelson, Lizzie. Hope and Alexander's dad."

Alexander notices all the attention towards the two twins and the tribrid steps in between them. "If you're going to fight, do it away from the contestants. Let's go."

"It's fine. I was already leaving." Josie storms off and Lizzie looks at Hope, her blue eyes filled with guilt and remorse.

Dana's mom announces Hope as the winner for the pageant and Alexander claps for his sister. Alexander's dumbfounded when Hope freezes in place. He didn't think the tribrid would have stage fright. She was preparing for the dance all day until it clicks that she must've overheard the twins talking. The tribrid gulps when the chandelier starts shaking again and Lizzie comes to her rescue.

After the dance, Alexander waits a few minutes for Hope to calm down with the blonde before he knocks on her door. He hears his sister's voice invite him in from inside and Alexander twists the doorknob open.

"Howdy." His dress shoes click with each step he takes and closes the door behind him. Alexander sees Lizzie packing up Hope's dress. The tribrid takes a moment to admire the dress more, sitting down on her bed.

"Dad had some taste." Alexander sighs.

"I have to go talk to Landon." Hope paces back and forth anxiously.

"You have to give boys some time before they come crawling back." Lizzie closes the box before putting it back up in her closet. 

"Are you feeling better?" Alexander asks his sister.

"To be really honest, for now, I am. Who knows about the future." Hope shrugs her shoulders. "Us Mikaelsons were never known for expressing our feelings. Auntie Bex might be an exception, but..."

Alexander stands up on his feet and walks over to his sister. He wraps his arms around Hope, pulling her close to his chest. The tribrid had a couple more inches of height than his sister, able to see the top of her head. Alexander presses his lips to her forehead, taking in a deep breath.

"Yes, bird boy is stupid. But he's got to be dumb as a bag of rocks to walk away from you forever."

"Um, we still need to talk about you guys being related." The blonde was used to being a part of the only twins in school. "How did this whole thing happen?"

"I like to think of myself as Rapunzel. I got snatched as a baby by a coven of witches." Alexander shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. 

"How did you trigger your werewolf curse?" Lizzie asks without thinking.

"Lizzie!"

"It's fine, Hope. The witches liked to isolate me so I didn't get to talk to people a lot. I believe on my thirteenth birthday, they decided to give me a TV. They blocked a lot of channels but I guess they didn't think cartoons would give me ideas. I hatched this plan to fight back against the witches." Alexander rambles. "They would um, take my blood to make them stronger. I was their own personal blood bag. They liked experimenting on me, seeing what my limits were. It's been so long, I started becoming almost immune to it? Everyday, a witch would be assigned to check on me to make sure I still had a pulse or whatever. Once they turned around, bye bye birdy."

"So, you killed a whole coven of witches?"

"Yeah, didn't you just listen to my whole story?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3  
> follow my twitter @mysticfawls


	14. the merge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm typing with acrylics on this shit hurts man :(

Alexander stands in the kitchen with an apron tied around his waist and a chef's hat on top of his head. His eyes squint at the cookbook on a recipe for a banana cream pie, mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl.

"You know we have stand mixers, right?" Lizzie giggles at the sight of the tribrid engrossed in the kitchen.

"It tastes better when you make it by hand. Trust me." Alexander spent a good part of his life alone. Even though he could compel anything into the palm of his hand, using his powers for so long can be kind of draining. He watched a lot of cooking shows and even found comfort in Guy Fieri for a while. When he felt most alone, he would turn on the television and just start whipping up anything he had in his kitchen at the time.

After many failed attempts of the recipe, Lizzie requested for Alexander's help, not even knowing the tribrid had a fondness for the culinary arts.

"Are you even sure we're allowed to be in here?" Alexander asks without even looking at the siphoner.

"Perks of being the headmaster's daughter. I'm sure they won't mind as long as we clean up after ourselves." Lizzie shrugs her shoulders, sitting on the counter top.

Alexander notices Lizzie's distressed state while dipping his finger into the pie batter to taste it. "Are you sure you're alright, Lizzie?" 

The blonde siphoner opens her mouth to say something but Hope walks into the kitchen, her eyes widening from all the mess. "Was there an attack in here?"

"Lizzie would be a horrible fifties housewife." Alexander pours the batter from the bowl into a pie mold with crust already lining the inside. The tribrid makes sure not to spill anything on the counter top.

"As I was saying," Lizzie rolls her eyes. "Josie didn't come back last night. I think she slept in Penelope's old room, which is a really good way to get Hepatitis B."

"Have you slept at all? You seem a little..."

"Focused? Motivated? On point?"

"Sure. Yeah." Hope looks down, realizing the blonde is in no mental state to be listening to her.

"Not sleeping in the same bedroom means that Twin Forgiveness Cuddle is off the table. But she's been holed up in the library, so a snack offering should do the trick." Lizzie throws white cheddar cheese puffs into a bowl and Hope shares a look of concern with Alexander as he's placing the pie into the oven.

"At some point, you might actually have to apologize."

Lizzie gasps as if Hope suggested the most horrendous thing in the world.

"Never apologize. Trust me, okay? This is what we do. I'm selfish, then she sulks, and then I offer baked goods."

"That sounds horrible and all kinds of toxic." Alexander scoffs, washing his hands in the sink. He grabs a napkin and wipes at some of the flour that landed on Lizzie's cheek.

"Alexander's baked goods." Hope corrects her.

"It's your turn for an update." Lizzie changes the subject. "Any word from our mop-headed elf?"

"He says he needs time to think." Now that Alexander thinks about it, the tribrid hasn't seen Landon since he stormed off at the pageant. Alexander wonders if maybe he should've followed the phoenix after all. 

"I feel like if I figured out the right thing to say, then he'd come back."

"So practice," Lizzie shrugs her shoulders, earning a look of confusion from Hope. "Emma has this prism that simulates a conversation. She makes me use it to talk to my mom and dad when I'm in a state. I'll give you a prism if you help me patch things up with Josie."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Why don't you try listening to Landon? All he seems to do is talk." Alexander rolls his eyes at the thought of the phoenix. "He was driving me crazy yesterday. You guys need to try couples therapy."

The three of them all stay in the kitchen talking to each other for a while until the pie is done baking. Alexander maneuvers it out of the oven, smoke rising from the hot dessert. "Let me know what she thinks!" 

Lizzie places the pie onto her decorated tray and thanks the tribrid before hurrying out of the room without dropping anything.

"Aren't you going to help me clean?!" Alexander calls out to the blonde but she's already out of earshot. He looks around him at all the clutter and Hope grabs a dishrag, helping her brother clean after Lizzie's mess.

* * *

Hope left earlier but she helped out her brother with the mess. The tribrid has never seen so much clutter in his life. He wipes his hands and was about to leave the kitchen when he bumps into his sister.

"I didn't think you'd still be here. I checked around the whole school for you." Hope sighs in relief at the sight of Alexander.

"I feel bad for any maid that works for Lizzie Saltzman in the future." Alexander shakes his head, dusting off his uniform pants.

"I need you to watch over Lizzie. I think she's having another episode, so I need to call Aunt Freya." Hope sees Alexander's look of horror and grabs his hand comfortingly.

"It won't take long. I'm gonna let Josie know first and she'll take over. You just have to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. You're gonna be fine. The worst she could do is make a mess."

"Another mess?!"

"Thanks, you're the best!" Hope rushes out of the kitchen and Alexander considers hiding at the Mystic Grill for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, he treads his way to the twins' dorm room, knocking gently before walking inside.

Lizzie sits on the ottoman with her head in her hands. The room is already a mess and Alexander clears his throat, stepping around some books that have fallen onto the floor.

"Pssst. It's Alexander." The tribrid gets comfortable on the rug next to Lizzie's feet. He brings his knees up to his chest, looking to see if the blonde was still in reality.

When he gets no answer from the blonde, he drums his fingers against his knees, studying the dorm room. "I'm no medical professional, but it seems like you're having a breakdown. I don't know you well enough or know what you're going through. Maybe you prefer being alone, maybe you don't."

"I don't think you're crazy. What I do think is that you're misunderstood. People don't pay attention to the small details or the warning signs. In fact, you're very strong, Lizzie." 

Alexander begins humming a song, swaying his body side to side. Eventually, Lizzie picks her head up from her hands and smiles at the tribrid.

"What song is that?"

"I don't know. I just made it up in my head. Sounds good, right? Should I be the next Beethoven?"

"What's a Beethoven?"

"Honestly, my family has been around for so long, they probably knew him in real life." Alexander clicks his tongue. He looks up at Lizzie, happy to see she was somewhat okay.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Only if you feel like listening."

"I'm all ears."

Lizzie fills in Alexander over everything she found out about the Merge. Supposedly, the twins are supposed to battle until one of them dies and the other twin absorbs their power. Alexander's face twists in bewilderment. How far would a witch go for their coven? Murder and sacrifice apparently.

Josie walks into the room and both Alexander and Lizzie look up from their information session.

"What do you want?" Lizzie is the first to ask.

"I came to get some stuff, but I guess I'll come back later." Josie turns around to walk away but her sister stops her.

"No, it's fine. Take whatever you need. Don't worry about me."

"Are you kidding me? All I've ever done is worry about you."

"Oh, here we go. The whole "I'm tired of being in Lizzie's shadow" speech? Well, guess what. Codependency takes two people." Lizzie slams her book shut and gets up from the floor, facing her sister. "Yes, I'm awful and needy, but deep down, you're happy to hide and let me be the one that they hate because you're too scared to be yourself."

Alexander gets up from the floor, his eyes flicking back and forth between the twins awkwardly.

"Maybe I should go..."

"No, stay. Lizzie might need someone else to come crying when she doesn't get the attention she wants."

"You are as much a part of this cycle as I am."

"You're upset. I'll come back for the part where you beg me to forgive you."

Lizzie's hands glow a faint red color as she siphons magic from the book in her hands and Josie siphons magic just from placing her hand on the dresser.

Alexander's eyes widen when he realizes he's about to witness a witch dual right in front of him. It's worse when the two are siblings from a deranged coven. The tribrid racks his brain for spells to stop the two from fighting and mumbles a prayer in his head just in case.

" _Corporis impetus!_ " Both of the siphoners freeze in their spots but are still able to move their eyes and mouth.

Alexander gasps when he cites the spell successfully, looking at the witches closely. "Oh my god, this is great! Not for you guys, obviously."

Lizzie rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out at the tribrid childishly.

"I would've just put you guys to sleep but then there's the risk of concussions ... also this is just more fun." Alexander shrugs his shoulders, his eyes shifting between the twins. He makes himself comfortable on the floor, looking through Lizzie's book about the merge.

"Aren't you gonna get us out of here?" Josie pouts.

"That depends. Are you two going to start shooting fireballs once I release you?" 

"No," they both sigh in unison.

"If you do then I'll really put you to sleep." Alexander threatens, closing the book shut. He clears his throat before doing the reversal spell and the twins are able to move on their own free will.

* * *

"You have super hearing right?" Hope approaches Alexander in the common room. 

"Good evening, Hope! I'm having a great day! And yourself?" Alexander blinks innocently at his sister for rudely interrupting his reading. He shuts his textbook, his full attention on his sister.

Hope rolls her eyes, not in the mood or having enough time to comment on her brother's sarcasm. Hope grabs his arm and pulls him inside Dr. Saltzman's office.

"Jeez, woman! Your grip is like an angry Roman soldier." 

"Listen to this voicemail and tell me everything you hear in the background."

"Can I get a please first?"

"Alexander!"

"Fine! I got it!" Alexander raises his hands in defense. Hope presses the button on the phone and a voicemail begins playing that Alexander recognizes at Landon's voice.

"Hey, Ric, sorry to take off like that, but I just needed a little time, so I'm going camping for a while. Hopefully, I can catch up on classwork later." Landon explains monotonously.

"There's footsteps on tile. The nice, expensive shoes. Sounds like an air conditioner or a generator running, maybe both."

"Tell Raf and Jed hi for me."

"Keycards are being swiped."

The voicemail ends and Hope throws her hands in the air. "It's Triad. It has to be. They already tried taking him once."

"What are we gonna do?"

"I'm gonna go full Wonder Woman, that's what."

"Hope, now really isn't the time for DC references."

The tribrid sighs at her brother, shaking her head. "Just come on. It's time to assemble the super squad."

"I just don't think we should be mixing up both the Avengers and the Justice League. It's offensive to both the franchises and just plain ignorant." Alexander follows behind Hope, getting all their friends together to save Landon, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3  
> follow me on twitter @mysticfawls


	15. avengers, assemble

The tribrid packs up everything he thinks he needs for the recon mission. He meets back with Hope and the others at the entrance. They're about to leave but in front of them are members of Triad and they don't look too happy.

"Oh, sorry. We were about to knock." The man in the front greets the supernatural teenagers. All of the Triad workers wear protective suits and headgear. Some of them have body shields.

"Who the hell are you?" Lizzie asks defensively. 

"Name's Burr. Triad Industries." _Ugly ass name._ Alexander glares at the white man with the poorly groomed beard who invades their school.

" _Propellere_ ," Hope tries to perform a spell but nothing happens. 

Kaleb tries charging toward the men but his skin burns in the sun, despite the daylight ring around his finger. 

"You don't have magic now which is why your daylight ring won't work. What we have here is stakes, wolfsbane ... among other things. So I think you should invite us inside."

Alexander feels compelled to grab one of the stakes from his friends and put a whole through Burr's head, but he doesn't want to put all of his friends at risk. The Triad members enter the school, corralling all of the students together like livestock into the lobby. The members spread pictures of what seems to be a golden chalice, another artifact from Malivore.

After the students are left to search for the artifact, the four of them all hide in Dr. Saltzman's office. Hope tries using the phone sitting on his desk, but the line is dead. The four of them all look for the school phone that Dr. Saltzman keeps hidden.

"Check MG's tighty whities." Lizzie jokes.

Alexander laughs but quickly clears his throat after he sees the serious look on Josie's face. The tribrid looks around the office for any obvious sign of the cell phone but doesn't find anything. Josie and Lizzie start bickering again, still not on the best of terms from their fight.

"Gemini twins!" Alexander captures their attention and the tribrid relishes in the few seconds of silence. "Less talky, more looky."

* * *

Hope finds the school phone and calls Dr. Saltzman to let him know what's happening. The four of them all devise a plan to get their powers back and fight back against Triad. The doors swing open again to reveal Burr and other Triad members. 

"Well, at least we know where you stand." 

"You're damn right we do." Hope stands in front of them.

"You're not very scared of me, are you?" Burr pulls a gun out and aims it at Hope. "How about now?"

Hope scoffs at the adult man, unfazed by the gun. "You're gonna shoot a kid?"

"This gun would never harm a human child. You four, however ... these bullets were formed from the mud of the Malivore pit and weaponized by Triad scientists. They can break the skin of any supernatural like a hot knife through butter. Fester. Infect them. Disintegrate them from the inside out." Burr loads the weapon and cocks the gun. Alexander can see the evident fear of the girls' faces.

"We don't know where the chalice is." Josie tries to plead with the Triad member.

"I believe you. This is all for fun, really." Burr points the gun at all four of them. He's about to pull the trigger when Lizzie steps forward.

Before the bullet can hit Lizzie, Josie jumps in front of her and the bullet hits her shoulder. Alexander tries to pull the siphoner back but it's already too late.

"We really need to talk about gun regulations in this country!" Alexander shouts.

The four of them are locked up in one of the cells underneath the school. Josie's bullet wound is getting worse and the siphoner looks drained. 

"If only I had a harmonica right now..."

"Why would you need a harmonica?" Hope never understood her brother, realizing how truly whimsical he was. Alexander likes to blame it on the isolation.

"In the movies, whenever someone gets thrown in jail, they always play the harmonica and everyone gets along and jams out together. Usually, someone arrives later to rescue them or bail them out." Alexander explains.

"We aren't living in a movie, Alex. This is real life." 

"How can you say that? Look at our lives! We all have magical powers. Monsters show up at the school almost every single day, even Landon has powers and he's Landon!"

"Keep it down in there!" A Triad member barks at them.

"This isn't the prison yard, asshat!"

"I'm so sorry, you guys. I dragged you all into this and I have absolutely no idea how to get us out of it." Hope's eyes tear up, the tribrid slowly begins losing hope the longer she spends in the cell.

Alexander paces back and forth with his eyes closed. He goes to the deepest parts of his brain, trying to send out any kind of signal. With his right hand, he drums his fingers against his thigh and he presses his lips together, trying to mimic the sound of a harmonica. The tribrid drowns out the voices around him as he tries to focus.

The three of them all join hands, looking at Alexander expectantly. "Alex, are you going to join us?" Hope asks her brother.

"I'm sorry. I'm a little preoccupied to join your kumbaya circle. Maybe later."

The Triad member comes back, hitting his baton against the metal bars. "Hey! I said keep it down in there."

A dart whooshes through the air and hits the guard in the neck. His body falls to the ground and Alexander gasps at the sight. The tribrid jumps up and down excitedly, facing MG who has a dart gun in his hand.

"Did someone say "hero time"?"

"I told you the harmonica thing would work!" Alexander laughs maniacally. "Lizzie, if you don't kiss this man, I will."

* * *

MG helps unlock the cell and explains what has been happening to the school while they've been stuck underground.

"Okay, so I'll go try to stop the blood fountain. You stay here and make sure nobody dies." Hope devises a plan.

"I'm going with you." Alexander stands beside Hope.

"No, you have to stay here." Hope frowns at her twin brother, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Hope, now is not the time to be independent. I'm your brother, I'll be by your side the whole time. We're Mikaelson's, remember?" 

"You can go find Landon. We'll hold the fort down while we're gone." Lizzie smiles at the Mikaelson twins. 

"Are you always going to pull the sibling card now?"

"Depends if I end up getting what I want."

Alexander follows Hope down to the secret tunnel to the basement. They all stand around the blood fountain, grimacing at the morbid statue. A bright light shines on the twins' faces, Hope fears they've been caught but it's just Dr. Saltzman with a flashlight.

The headmaster looks relieved it's only the twins and not some Triad members. He turns off his flashlight, studying the fountain in front of them. "I told you to wait for me."

"In a shocking turn of events, I ignored you."

"Yeah, Hope, about that..."

"Save the speech. Okay? I've paid the price. I see that. What happened to your arm?"

There's a bullet sized hole in Hope's sleeve, but there's no wound or blood. Alexander looks for any holes in his clothes but doesn't find anything.

"That Triad guy shot at us with Malivore mud. He must've gotten me too. I-I didn't even feel it." Hope pulls her sleeve up, expecting to see the same wound from Josie's shoulder.

"Wait, who else got shot?"

"Dr. Saltzman, you have to trust me. Josie's gonna be just-"

"Josie got shot?!"

"Lizzie and MG are on it, they know what they're doing," Alexander explains. "We just need to figure out a way to stop the blood fountain. 

Alaric simply dips his finger in the blood before tracing the etchings on the skulls.

"Alaric Saltzman, you have been in places that I don't really want to know about." Alexander watches the headmaster dispell the statue with such ease. It reminds the tribrid he still has a lot of learning to do.

"How did you know how to do that?"

"This is a dark object created by a group of extinct witch-like people called the Travelers. Anti-magic was kind of their thing." Alaric explains.

"How did Triad even get in here? How did they know that there were tunnels?"

"Listen, I will explain everything to you guys later, okay? But right now, I have to get to Josie."

"Give her a vial of my blood. I'll explain everything later."

Both Hope and Alexander escape the school and head over to the Triad lab Landon is being held in. It was easy for the two tribrids to storm into the laboratory. After a bunch of snapped necks, the twins find Landon pressed up against the wall by what seems to be a person with no head.

"I'm happy to see you guys!" 

"You good over there, Kirby?" Alexander snickers at the position Landon is in.

"Uh, could be better!"

Hope charges at the monster and after Alexander makes sure that Landon is in a safe distance, he joins Hope. While Hope fights him from the front, Alexander attacks from his backside. Alexander tries ripping out his limbs but the monster is too quick with the vertebrae whip in his hand.

"He's not dying! You know science fiction, how do I kill him?" Hope calls out to Landon.

"Uh, headless horseman is more fantasy."

"Get to the useful part!" Alexander grunts, wincing when the whip slashes at his arm.

Landon rambles through multiple theories and Alexander rolls his eyes, wondering how the phoenix could withstand all the information in his mind.

"The head is underneath his cape! Kill the head, the body dies, that's science faction!" 

"How are you attracted to him?!" Alexander shouts incredulously at the dumb pun.

The tribrid swipes the cape off of the headless monster, causing him to stumble. Hope grabs his whip before he could try to retaliate and the head falls from underneath his cape down the steps next to Landon.

Landon grabs the head unwillingly, not knowing what to do with it. The phoenix makes a noise of distaste when the head is moist in his hands. He tosses the severed head to Hope who stabs through it with a pole she broke off from the railing.

"Sick," Alexander laughs at the pike. Hope looks at her brother unbelievably, shaking her head. She throws the head on a stick away and Landon runs up to Hope, their lips smashing against each other.

"Wow, a warning would suffice next time." Alexander shields his eyes away from the couple. 

The couple confesses their love for each other and Alexander wants to gouge his eyes out. He's still happy for his sister, maybe not in the most pristine of timings but he'll give them their moment. 

The tribrid hums when he feels a disturbance. He looks around but nothing is out of the ordinary. He doesn't hear anything except for the sound of his sister smacking lips with the phoenix.

"Nothing like young love, is there? Shame it has to be so short-lived." Clarke appears on the other side of the laboratory.

"You'll find baby brother, that one of our family's worst traits is...we're terribly clumsy." Clarke tosses the artifact into the pit and it sinks into the mud, ugly bubbles rising to the surface. Smoke begins emitting from the pit and Alexander scrunches his nose up.

"Aren't you gonna clap? That was a total power move."

Alexander begins clapping slowly but he stops when both Landon and Hope glare at the tribrid. Landon instinctively grabs the vertebrae whip and wraps it around Clarke's neck, snapping him unconscious.

"Finally, you do something useful!" Alexander applauds the phoenix.

Landon frowns at Alexander's comment but shakes it off. The phoenix catches the twins up on what he learned his time in captivity with Clarke. 

"Nothing's ever immortal. I mean, not really. Nature won't allow it. There's always a loophole." The mud pit growls from underneath them if possible.

"You got any brilliant ideas? Because I think we're running out of time." Alexander sighs.

"I have one idea, but you're not gonna like it. Kiss me," Hope grabs Landon's jaw, molding their lips together.

Alexander rolls his eyes, hitting his head multiple times with his hand lightly. "I don't know what kind of weird fetish you guys have, maybe it's all the adrenaline, but we're kind of in the middle of a crisis."

Landon pulls away, looking at Hope with a confused expression. "I didn't hate that at all."

Hope takes in a deep breath, smiling at the phoenix. "Not that. This." The tribrid snaps Landon's neck and he falls to the floor unconsciously. 

Alexander jumps back in surprise, his eyes widening at his sister. "What kind of plan is this?!" Alexander notices the look in Hope's eyes and swallows the invisible lump in his throat. The tribrid has seen that face before on himself and most of the thoughts in his head at the time weren't very cheerful.

"Hope, don't."

"Alex, what choice do I have?"

"I can't let you do this, Hope. We just found each other!" Alexander tries to blink away the tears blurring in his vision but he wipes it with the back of his palm hastily.

Hope cries, wrapping her arms around Alexander. She sniffles into his shoulder, taking in a deep breath for what she's about to do. "I already made my decision. Promise me you'll look after Landon."

"Hope..."

"Promise?"

"I promise." Alexander sighs reluctantly.

"I'm gonna find my way back, okay? This isn't goodbye. I'll see you soon."

Alexander nods his head sadly, his cheeks becoming splotchy from all the tears. Hope snaps Alexander's neck and Hope can't bear to watch her brother, unsure how long she'll be apart from him. She tries to pull herself together and calls Dr. Saltzman from the school phone. 

"Did you and Alexander find Landon?"

"Yeah."

"Then tell me where you are."

"Alexander knows the way. He'll bring Landon back."

"Hope, you're not making any sense. Put Landon on the phone."

"I can't. I knew he would try to stop me so I kind of snapped his neck."

"Then put Alexander on the phone."

"Can't do that either. I had to snap him too. They'll come back. Even if I don't."

"Hope, tell me what you're about to do right now before you do it."

"Clarke won. He found the final artifact and he tossed it into the pit, which is Landon's father, by the way. And now Malivore's gonna rise unless I stop him."

"Stop him how?"

"Landon has all the answers, please stop trying to stall me, Dr. Saltzman. It's not going to work."

"Hope, listen to me. This is just a theory, okay? You don't even know if this is going to work so just sit tight, and you wait for me to get there."

"There's no time! I always thought that I was a cosmic mistake, someone who should have never been born. But after all this time, I mean, my purpose is finally clear. Think about it. I'm the answer to all of this. I can remember things about Malivore that no one else can. That Triad weapon didn't affect me. Did my blood heal Josie?"

"I am not okay with this."

"I know. But you will be because once I toss myself into this pit, no one at school will remember me. Including you."

Hope's eyes widen when she sees a face appear from the pit. A million thoughts race through Hope's mind, not knowing what to expect inside the pit. The tribrid forces Dr. Saltzman to erase every single piece of information about her. She sets the phone down and Clarke wakes up again. It's only a few minutes before Landon does too. The tribrid casts a mimic spell onto Clarke and the two-step onto the railing before falling into the pit together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3  
> follow me on twitter @mysticfawls


	16. beignets & palm readers

When the tribrid wakes up in the laboratory, Landon is already staring at him, lost. Alexander looks over the railing and there is no more bubbling pit but an ugly hole in the ground. Alexander takes in a deep breath, helping Landon off of the floor.

"Alex, where are we?"

Alexander grabs Landon's shoulders, forcing the phoenix to look into his eyes. "Landon, do you remember who Hope is?"

"Who's Hope?"

"Fuck," Alexander pinches the bridge of his nose. His blue eyes land on the school phone on the ground and Alexander calls Dr. Saltzman.

"Alexander? Are you and Landon okay?"

"Yes, we're on our way back to the school."

"What just happened?"

"I'll explain when we get back."

The tribrid leads both of them out of the laboratory and Alexander compels himself a car. He speeds all the way back to Mystic Falls, dropping Landon at the entrance of the school. Alexander doesn't waste any time, instantly storming into Dr. Saltzman's office and explains everything that happened.

"Why do you keep talking about hope?"

"Not hope, Hope!" Alexander stomps his foot frustratingly.

For weeks, Alexander has been trying to find anyone who knew his twin sister but he came up with nothing. The tribrid wasn't able to get any pictures of her but he drew a pretty realistic picture to show others.

After a while, people started looking at Alexander as if he was the new Lizzie. The blonde siphoner didn't seem as crazy anymore. The tribrid felt betrayed when none of his friends believed him. Nobody believed in him. Once again, he was all alone.

Alexander sits on the dock of the school lake, his feet dipped in the water and his pants are rolled up to his knees. He stares at the water, looking for any sort of sign but he doesn't find anything. He sniffles quietly, some tears falling down his cheeks. What only seemed like tears turns into a sobbing fit and Alexander's chest feels heavy. The tribrid struggles to breathe, choking on his own tears.

Alexander bites down on his bottom lip and looks up at the sky. It's a clear afternoon with some clouds swirling above him. The tribrid wishes he could block his brain and ignore his gut, but the auburn-haired girl remains stuck in his mind. He feels like he shouldn't forget about her. Most of the students think he suffers from schizophrenia and hears voices in his head. He watches all the other students say their goodbyes in the courtyard, packing their things up for summer vacation. 

The tribrid makes an impulse decision and runs away from the campus. Nobody really pays attention to him anymore so escaping was east for the tribrid. Alexander has never had a problem being on his own and he wasn't going to start now. The tribrid has been all over the country, unable to stay in one place for too long. Alexander decides to go back to the one place he's been avoiding his whole life: New Orleans.

* * *

Alexander spends the first day familiarizing himself with the area. He walks around the whole day, admiring the culture and music. Something was always happening in the French Quarter. He went to the local bakery and got himself a bag of beignets to go. They were the best beignets he ever had.

The second day, a random lady grabs him by the shoulders and shoves him into a chair. Her hair is wrapped in a turban and Alexander notices she has on a lot of jewelry. She grabs his palms and studies them intensely. Alexander contemplates running away from the strange woman.

"I apologize. I'm known for having brute force. I was just compelled by your energy. You seem to be quite a force of nature. We haven't had one in the French Quarter for quite a while."

Alexander scoots himself up closer so it's easier for the palm reader and she gasps out of nowhere.

"I see a lot of dark energy. You face a lot of troubles now, Alexander. It's okay to tip towards darkness every now and then, but don't let it consume you."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know everything in the French Quarter."

"Tell me where I can find Freya Mikaelson."

"If you want to know how to find Freya Mikaelson, it'll come at a price."

"Okay, fine. What do you want?"

The palm reader begins mumbling a spell and Alexander screams in pain at the burning sensation in his head. The tribrid falls to the ground and the pain becomes too much to bear that he eventually becomes unconscious.

The tribrid wakes up to the sound of voices, his eyes slowly flutter open. He sees the palm reader talking to a woman with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.

"He was asking around for you. I don't know what he wants, but I thought you could find out for yourself." The palm reader shrugs.

"Thank you, Marjorie. He will be dealt with." 

Alexander recognizes the blonde as his aunt Freya from the pictures Hope showed him. The palm reader leaves and Freya walks over to the tribrid, observing him with her hands behind her back. Alexander tries speeding away but he's unable to move from the chains coiled around his body. 

"The chains are spelled so the person wearing them has no supernatural capabilities. Kind of ironic if you ask me." Freya takes a seat in front of the tribrid with a stoic expression on her face.

"State your name and what you're doing here in the French Quarter. I know every single person here but I've never seen you before."

"My name is Alexander Mikaelson. I'm just here to find out more about where I came from and I think you can help me."

Freya freezes at the last name, squinting her eyes at the tribrid. Alexander rolls his eyes at the suspicion from his relative. He didn't blame her for the skepticism. He wouldn't have believed him either. 

"You could do a memory spell on me. Look in my brain and all that mumbo jumbo." 

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you for being an imposter right now." Freya glares at him and Alexander feels like the blonde is staring right into his soul.

"The same reason why you haven't killed me yet. You're as curious as I am." 

"I'll be right back, Alexander Mikaelson." Freya's lips curl into a smile and she gets up from the wooden chair, emphasizing his name.

Alexander takes a moment to look around the room. The floorboards are creaky and the walls are lined with wooden paneling. There's a single light bulb on the ceiling and some boxes surrounding him. A few minutes later, Freya walks down the steps and lifts Alexander up with the chains still wrapped around him. The blonde mumbles a spell and the chains disappear from his body. 

"This requires you to have a full range of motion with your body. Being chained up will only stress you out and make it harder to focus."

"Thank you." Alexander mumbles almost too quietly, but Freya hears him.

"You're gonna be submerged in this ice bath. In a few seconds, we'll go through your early memories, almost like a movie or a slideshow. Not only you can see it but so can I." Freya explains. "You ready?"

"No, but I don't think I'll ever be." Alexander dips his foot into the ice bath before fully stepping inside the metal tub. He groans at the cold temperature, shivering instantly. His teeth chatter and he takes in a deep breath before plunging his head under water.

Freya closes her eyes and begins muttering a spell above him, moving her arms in a circular motion. The water in the tub moves with the motion of her arms.

When Alexander closes his eyes, the darkness doesn't last forever. He sees a brunette on a table, screaming and crying for help. He recognizes her from the photos in Hope's room. Alexander's lips curl into a frown, not realizing how traumatic his birth was.

There's a man pinned to the wall mid-air. He's screaming and making deadly threats. His mother finally pushes the first baby out and the redheaded woman smiles at his mother.

"It's a boy."

The other women surrounding his mother all share looks of concern and his father looks dazed and confused.

""W-wait, what's wrong? Why isn't he crying?"

"There's no heartbeat, he's not breathing..."

The redhead hands Alexander off to someone else and his mother shakes her head. "Stop! That's my baby, I need to hold him!"

The redhead ignores Hayley's pleas but there is remorse in her eyes. She encourages Hayley to keep pushing and the brunette pushes to the best of her ability. The sound of crying fills the room and Hayley sighs in relief. She tries to lift her head up to get even the smallest glimpse of her child.

"You have a beautiful baby girl."

The next memory, a group of witches surround Alexander, muttering a spell that the tribrid can't comprehend. The baby's chest rises as air begins to fill its lungs again. His face scrunches up and his face turns pink before crying. His little arms and legs twitching with his eyes clenched shut.

"He will suffice. The ancestors accept his sacrifice, but we'll have to keep him around. They have a feeling tribrid blood might be a necessity in the near future."

Freya frowns as she watches the witches perform a cloaking spell and the abuse and neglect toward Alexander. The tribrid couldn't watch anymore, gasping awake. He sits up in the bathtub, coughing out all the water in his mouth. Alexander looks at Freya expectantly and the same stoic expression from earlier is written all over her face.

"So?"

"You're not a Mikaelson." Freya whispers ever so lightly.

Alexander scoffs, stepping out of the bathtub. His body is soaking wet and water droplets fall to the ground below him. "After all that, you still don't believe me?"

Alexander screams when Freya does another pain infliction spell on him and the searing pain in his head returns. The tribrid falls to his knees, rubbing his temples for any kind of comfort. Alexander blacks out again, passing out on the bathroom floor.

"Freya!" A woman appears in the doorway with a child in her arms, distracting the powerful witch. "What on earth are you doing?"

"This imposter tried to trick me. He claimed to be a Mikaelson."

"Freya..."

"Don't give me that look, Keelin. Alexander is dead. He was stillborn. Hayley and Klaus said so."

"If you're still the intelligent woman I married, you would've went through any means to discover the truth. If the tribrid were to die, then they unlock their vampire bloodline. I'm not even a witch and I know that." Keelin rocks the sleeping child in her arms, sighing at her wife. 

"Mischievous blue eyes and blonde swooped hair. He could've been mistaken as your child." Keelin clicks her tongue, shaking her head. "I'm going to put Nik down to bed. It would be nice for you to join us."

* * *

Alexander groans when he wakes up with his head still pulsing. He finds himself on the floor of the bathroom, his clothes sticking to his skin. He stands up and steps out into the hallway for anyone. He hears someone clearing his throat behind him and the tribrid turns around.

"I think it's best for the both of us if you leave right now." Freya looks down at her feet with his arms folded across her chest.

"Freya..."

"Now, Alexander. Please leave and never go around asking for me and my family ever again."

Alexander's lips press into a firm line and the tribrid takes in a deep breath, nodding his head.

"Sorry to bother you. Thank you for the spell." Alexander turns around to walk away and once he's far enough, the tribrid releases a shaky breath while tears start rolling down his cheeks. 

The tribrid feels like he's all out of options, even his own family turning their back on him. He strolls through a nearby forest and shoves his hands into his pockets. Alexander sniffles quietly, furrowing his eyebrows when he pulls a dry envelope out of his pocket. He wipes the tears away from his eyes and sits on a large rock close by. The front is addressed to _my little prince._

_Dear Alexander,_

_Things have been a bit hectic at home. I'm still not over the fact that I never got to hold you._

_I never got to see if you got your father's blue eyes or my green ones._

_I didn't get to see if you got his blonde hair or my brown hair._

_I didn't get to hear you laugh or cry. I won't be there to help you transition._

_You're still out there somewhere and it kills me that I can't find you._

_All the vampires, werewolves, and witches have spent weeks looking for you._

_It was a long ride to bring you here and I don't regret a single thing. You are worth every sacrifice and I'm sorry for letting you down._

_I looked forward to meeting you for the first time. I miss you every single day._

_I love you so much my little prince. I hope we'll see each other one day._

_Your mom, Hayley_

Alexander sobs, clutching the letter to his chest. His breathing is irregular and he clenches his eyes shut, trying to ground himself. He pockets the envelope so he doesn't lose it, singing to himself. The tribrid inhales another deep breath, shoving all of his feelings down. Afterwards, he pushes himself off of the rock and finds his way out of the forest to his new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! <3  
> follow me on twitter @mysticfawls

**Author's Note:**

> quarantine has given me a lot to think about and that includes story ideas  
> this is my first time writing on the internet so please be gentle  
> i'd appreciate feedback and notes! thank you for reading. <3


End file.
